


Challengers

by ILookDaftWithOneShoe



Series: Challengers [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adventure, Avatar - The Last Airbender AU, Firebender!Loki, M/M, Politics, This one is extra fun, Worldbuilding, blacksmith!Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-06
Updated: 2014-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-12 00:46:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2089326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ILookDaftWithOneShoe/pseuds/ILookDaftWithOneShoe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony and Loki fled the war for security and safety, and so Loki could learn firebending in peace. But now everything's changed and they can't turn their back to the chaos in the world any longer.</p><p>Avatar: Legend of Aang AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Whatever the mess you are, you're mine, okay?

**Author's Note:**

> It's back! For the third and most likely final time.
> 
> This one plays a lot more into Avatar continuity and therefore it's prudent to inform you that this whole series takes place between 42 - 47 AG, so several decades before Legend of Aang.
> 
> This piece is also a little more serious than the other two, so yeah, slightly higher rating and a violence warning.

It would have been easy for Tony to go back to Ba Sing Se and go back to being a well-respected blacksmith, living the easy life.

It would've been similarly easy for Loki to use his scholarly knowledge and natural bent for superciliousness to chisel himself a life in the upper echelons of Fire Nation societies.

But both of those would've required leaving the other, and they just hadn't wanted to do that.

It had taken them so much wandering to reach where they eventually ended up. They travelled for just over half a year, stopping anywhere interesting to explore the world around them. Among other things, they were part of an exploring party that mapped the deserted Northern Air temple; they wandered through the Si Wong Desert for a while, spending time with the locals; they marveled at temples older than known history in the West; they visited Li very briefly; they saw animals of every shape and size and origin; they made a point of seeing nearly everything there was to see in their quest to find a home. Even a brief tour of some of the Eastern islands ended up on the agenda.

Five summers on from Loki's departure from Ba Sing Se, and they were massively content.

They were in the East, near an insignificant town in an insignificant region where all was quiet. 'Near' meant they were on an island living in a previously abandoned villa.

After just over a week living there, they'd discovered exactly why the villa and island were abandoned. Not only was the island volcanic, but there was a young family of dragons living up on the crags of the mountain itself. This had effectively scared most away.

Not Loki, though. After his time travelling he had a confidence he'd previously lacked and simply went up to meet the dragons, fire in hand.

It turned out they liked firebenders and had absolutely no objections to either of them living there.

The amount of time it had taken Tony to cement his own position as the town blacksmith was very small indeed. Not only was he skilled, but the nearest blacksmith was about twenty klicks away and the new arrangement was much more convenient for their new town and the neighboring ones.

It had taken Loki so much longer to find himself a place among the people of the town. At first he'd been a little unpopular because his highborn looks, advanced education, and slightly haughty manner outed him as one of 'them rich city folk' and thus made him undesirable.

However, he'd managed to become a somewhat respected figure around the town by cleaning up the library, repairing books and setting up a new system of loaning. At the library he'd begun teaching early reading to toddlers, and soon enough took over as a teacher at the school for local kids. Currently, he was the headmaster. There were two other teachers there and neither had wanted the job.

He also taught earthbending. He knew the basics.

The great drama had come after about half a year of living there when Loki had accidentally firebended in front of people.

On his travels, Loki had begun to practice his bending from his stolen scrolls and had developed a basic proficiency. He'd also begun improvising his own techniques to broaden his own repertoire. But on his morning run up the volcano slopes, he'd been intercepted by the adult dragon living on the mountain, who managed to communicate her goal to teach Loki something new about the art of firebending.

So Loki had gotten very good, very fast, under the tutelage of an old matriarch of a dragon named Tsuchi.

When he'd been leading the kids on a field trip to teach them something about medicinal herbs available to them in the great outdoors, a couple of the little monsters had disturbed a nesting pair of iguana parrots, who would've torn them to shreds if Loki didn't intervene.

After all the training he'd been doing, his fire came to him far quicker than his throwing knives and he loosed a warning streak of flame at the angry iguana parrots before he could consider his own actions.

The kids, so far away from the war but still terrified of anything Fire Nation, sprinted all the way home.

Having shouldered some responsibility as a caregiver, Loki ran after them to at least make sure they got home in one piece.

A town meeting was called immediately in the main hall, where a wall of angry people met a wall full of largely indifferent ones, or ones that happened to like Loki.

Loki and Tony were invited, which was nice.

Many people were full of hate and were all in favour of banishing Loki from the city.

Loki's anger had flared at the suggestion of being exiled for his powers, and the lamps in the room flared up violently to match, causing another ripple of fear to run through the room.

As Loki's powers had developed fully, he'd quickly realised that he had the common but unfortunate involuntary pyrokinesis; that was, he affected fire around him with his emotions without even noticing. It wasn't helping.

Then Loki had pleaded his case, backed up by Tony.

It wouldn't have been the end of the world if they had to leave. But it would have been very annoying, and would have left a bitter taste in their mouths.

Fortunately, most could agree that Loki was mostly harmless, and though there were several nay-sayers it was eventually agreed Loki could stay.

After the meeting, two of said nay-sayers who happened to have a burning hatred for anything vaguely associated with the Fire Nation tried to corner Loki outside. Not to fight him, but to encourage Loki to lash out at them to prove their case.

Loki had been raised with four older brothers; it wasn't particularly different to the goading he'd suffered as a kid. He just leaned against the wall, accepting the many insults, and when it came to blows, he used some of the airbending techniques he'd been studying to just swerve and avoid them, and then leave.

Tony had been proud of him for that. Loki did have a temper.

Then they went home to the island, and Loki felt very good about himself.

Both of them became very prominent members of the community in the years that followed. The town had a sheltered port and good fertile land around it, so it was growing all the time. It didn't take very long for Tony to be the voice for all the tradesmen and craftsmen, and for Loki to be on the town council as the schoolmaster.

The young dragons on the mountain grew up too, becoming more adventurous, but with Loki's help, the townspeople didn't fear them.

Life was good.

As people do, the pair of them settled into a daily routine. They both woke just before sunrise. Loki went for a run up the volcano, which wasn't very tall, but the ground was rough. Tony sometimes joined him, and other times just took a quiet morning for himself. Once Loki reached the top of the mountain, he ran through his forms as the mother dragon watched him. Then he returned home, bathed in the spring, and got ready to go to town.

Tony's lovely engineering work had resulted in a special boat with a propeller that Loki could power by firebending, and the island wasn't far from the coast, so the journey was short.

Then Tony went to work, and Loki went to school.

They often shared the evening meal with the rest of the townsfolk, who had a tradition of working together to make some kind of soup or broth for all to share in the evenings, so long as everyone payed taxes to the mayor, a kind and clever woman who had the town running like clockwork.

After that, they went home, spent time together, and went to sleep. Such was the simple way of life in the country.

On one particular Spring morning, just after Tsuchi had laid her next clutch but before the moo-sow calved, things changed. A lot.

Both Tony and Loki completed their daily ritual as normal. Then they went to town, where an impromptu meeting had been called.

"Now that our esteemed Tony and Loki are here," the mayor, Jiahui, said, her voice carrying easily. "Word has just arrived from Ba Sing Se via a messenger touring the land."

Most people couldn't care less about what was happening in the capital. But Loki and Tony's ears pricked, curious about the people that had once been their kinsmen.

"The Earth King is dead," Jiahui announced. "The 50th Earth King, ruler of our nation for over forty years, was killed along with his immediate family in a tragic accident. We welcome our new king, grandson of the previous king, son of Prince Baldr, the 51st Earth King!"

The square fell silent with that startling revelation.

Many people noticed suddenly that candles and lanterns had gone out, and that the only pyrokinetic in town was pale in the face.

"No," Loki breathed, and his voice was audible by all in the square. "How many are dead? How many of the princes died?"

Jiahui looked slightly surprised at Loki's strong reaction, but consulted the scroll she was holding and said "All except General Thor, who had abdicated his regency and commands our forces against the Fire Nation enemy, who shall be crushed beneath his mighty power. Except you, Loki, dear."

Such was her affection for him.

Loki wanted to answer, but couldn't. He wasn't that interested in Odin's death, but Frigga, Baldr, Hodr, and Vidar had actually been his family. And now they were gone.

"Loki?" Tony said softly, holding his hand. "You 'kay?"

They both knew he wasn't. They'd been together for too long for Tony to not instantly sense Loki's sudden grief.

"We have to go," Loki said, trying to be quiet, but everyone heard them nonetheless.

The goings on of the royalty in Ba Sing Se didn't have much of an effect on a rural town like that one, but the unfolding of Loki's current drama was gossip gold, and everyone was listening.

"Ba Sing Se?" Tony asked.

"To find Thor," Loki murmured.

"Loki, what good will you of all people finding Thor do?" Jiahui asked.

"We have to get him back to Ba Sing Se," Loki said, his voice abruptly stiffening into something formal when surrounded by such a crowd. "My brother has to realise he must take charge. The Dai Li will rule in his stead otherwise."

The word _brother_ rippled through the crowd.

"'Course we can, Loki. I kind of missed adventuring anyway," Tony said.

Loki stood very still for a moment, composing himself, aiming to reach his own inner peace. He'd learned ever since his firebending developed fully that being calm and controlled was key. 

After perhaps five seconds of that, he said "Doesn't everyone have a job to get to?"

Some people filed away at that. Others unashamedly kept watching Loki.

"Come with me, Loki," Jiahui said, leading him towards the town hall. "Tony too. I know you hate to be separated."

This was true. When not at their respective jobs, they were rarely seen apart in town.

Once inside, Jiahui said "Take a minute, Loki."

Loki sat down and did a few of his very precise breathing exercises.

His family was dead.

No, they weren't related to him. And he hadn't been that close to his siblings, admittedly, though he'd loved his mother greatly. But he couldn't stop thinking of Baldr teaching him how to whistle to the birds, and Hodr being the one to practice archery with him, and Vidar (who'd been closest to his own age) in lessons with him. Even when he hadn't cared for them hugely, those memories were hard to push away.

 _They can't be gone,_ one part of Loki said.

The other side was more rational, telling him he needed to get to Thor.

Once he'd calmed down, Loki raised his head and thanked Jiahui.

Tony had wisely just taken a seat directly next to Loki and zipped his mouth.

"Always welcome, Loki," Jiahui said. "In exchange I have only one question, one that I have no far declined to ask you. Who are you?"

"The ex-prince of the Earth Kingdom," Loki admitted. "Apparently firebending is not allowed."

"The exiled prince," Jiahui said. "I was travelling back from Ba Sing Se when that happened, you know. I have only sympathy for you."

"Thank you," Loki said.

"A little shocking for you, then, with the news of your brothers."

Loki nodded. "I need to go find Thor." That was one thought that hadn't quit.

"Why?" Jiahui asked.

"Not the reasons you think," Loki said. "Look, if Baldr's son is the new king, he can't be older that five. Baldr was married but he had no sons when I left. And if Thor is absent, then that means the Dai Li will be running Ba Sing Se under the guise of advisors or governors."

"What's wrong with the Dai Li running the show?" Tony said, speaking up now that the emotional moment was over.

"They were created by Avatar Kyoshi to crush rebellion and torture potential dissidents. Odin never trusted them even when he was working with them, and we should not either. Thor needs to take the throne," Loki said. "Please trust me on this. I did not agree with Odin on many points, especially his parenting style, but I can understand that he recognised an opportunistic faction under his own nose. A child king will not see that."

"If there's anyone I trust with politics, it's you," Tony said. "I'm just your lovable beast of burden. Jiahui, what do you think?"

"I think that I am perhaps more of a small-town politician, but Loki's words ring true. If that is what you believe, Loki, then I would advise you to pursue a remedy to such a situation," Jiahui said.

Sometimes Jiahui reminded Loki of Frigga. Maybe that was why they got along so well.

"She's with you, I'm with you. Let's get our stuff," Tony said firmly.

"Now?" Loki said, a little taken aback that things were happening at his word so suddenly.

"Of course now. If not now, when?"

The town waved them goodbye by noon.

-O.O-

Years ago, when they'd been travelling West to find Loki a firebending master, Loki had been so unfit that after a few hours every step felt like he was in ankle-deep mud.

Now he was in the condition of his life. Tony wasn't half bad either. And walking for both of them was barely tiring at all.

The person who was really unfit was Jarvis, who enjoyed his soft life prowling around Tony's forge or finding sunny spots on their island, depending on the day. After half an hour of walking the little turtle-fox demanded to be carried by Tony.

So then they had to stop to move things from Tony's pack to Loki's to clear some space for Jarvis to sleep in Tony's bag.

"Is he getting ... _old?_ For a turtle-fox?" Loki asked.

"Actually, they can live for over a hundred years. He's just a lazy shit," Tony said. Jarvis nipped him for that.

Fortunately, there was almost no chance of them being attacked by bandits, given both how tough the pair of them looked and the sword at Tony's hip.

They weren't walking all the way to the war front. They were walking south to the large port city so they could get on a ship heading to a big shipping centre just south of Omashu. This took out the need to go through the Si Wong Desert, which was fun for a visit but hard to actually journey through.

Not much needed to be said. Every piece of idle talk and chit-chat they could muster had already been used in the years past. Instead they walked in a very companionable silence, occasionally speaking up or pointing something else.

Once or twice they just looked at each other and couldn't resist smiling despite the seriousness of the situation.

That night, as they camped down, they pooled everything they knew about the situation in Ba Sing Se. It wasn't overly much, and what they did know was suspicious: how unlikely was it that some accident had managed to kill the entire royal family, apart from one child?

Loki wondered if Baldr's wife Nanna was still alive. She was sweet, even if she'd never liked him much.

They didn't think it would take them very long to reach Thor so long as they could get a ship going to the right place.

Once they reached the city, their first priority was finding said ship, and they found one that left the next morning.

Their fate secured, they ended up getting some delicious food and then catching a show at the theatre. Living in a small town had many benefits, but exotic restaurants and practiced theatres were not included in the package.

Loki was sick of organising and watching the school plays. He liked children for many reasons, but their acting prowess was not one of them, so it was a real pleasure to watch professional actors on stage.

Then they fell asleep in an inn, Loki trying to smile to clear away his chills of fear.

-O.O-

The next morning they woke early to catch their ship. It was a mid-sized boat, both sail and oar, and largely shipping wares down the coast, but there were a few other passengers.

For lack of anything better to do, Tony and Loki settled down settled on the deck and chatted to the other passengers.

Some of their stories were cheery and hopeful, tales of business waiting and love and whatever else drove people towards a war. Others were going to find the lost or aid friends and family.

They discussed the news of the new king. Most were apathetic, given how little goings-on in Ba Sing Se affected the day to day lives of people in the styx. Some wondered how it had happened so suddenly. But there was no great interest.

After a few days of sailing, with one stop at a port, Loki was getting itchy fingers. It was the longest he'd gone without firebending in years and his newfound outdoorsy attitude was not suited to life on a ship. Tony was quieter, but shared his pain; talking and very occasionally rowing was not what he was accustomed to.

The shipping lanes grew emptier the further they headed West, for obvious reasons; the Fire Navy was not to be messed around with. Occasionally they were no better than pirates, tearing into unarmed traders.

As they neared their goal they were approached by a ship bearing down on them from the South. Big, metal, and flying a red flag, it scared the captain enough to order them all to the oars to try and get away.

But Fire Navy ships are coal powered, and they never stood a chance.

"We'll fight them," Loki said to the captain, trying to keep battle-lust out of his tone and failing miserably. 

"Impossible!" the captain declared. "We will all perish!"

"No, we won't," Tony said, drawing his sword as the Fire Navy ship drew up directly next to them, about twice their height.

A ladder for climbing the side was right in front of them. If the Fire Nation people got aggressive - and it was hard to see this exchange going any other way - then boarding would be easy.

A helmetless face looked over the bow of the enemy ship, their wide shoulderpads proving their army status.

"I was just telling my men we would dock soon and get supplies," the Fire Navy captain grinned. "Looks like that won't be necessary."

An intense fireball missed his face by an inch. "Fuck off!" Loki called back bluntly.

The usual reaction when Loki was revealed as a firebender occurred; everyone except Tony stopped and looked at Loki oddly for a moment, including the captains of both ships.

Loki issued two whips from his hands neatly and lashed the bow of the ship above them with them, slicing part of the prow and causing the captain to jump back.

Tony shouldered his backpack and scrambled up the ladder with his sword in one hand, ready to go, while Loki pushed back the guards trying to shoot both him and the ship he was standing on.

Wooden ships burned well, so Loki was being careful.

The terrified captain had been scared enough seeing a Fire Nation ship bearing down on them. Having a firebender on board was too much of him, and all of a sudden Loki found firm hands shoving him overboard.

Fortunately Tony grabbed him. Otherwise Loki would have been in a lot of trouble. One can't firebend their way out of drowning.

But the ship was pulling away, all hands on deck to power out of the situation as rapidly as possible.

There went their ride.

"Well, no going back now," Tony shrugged, hauling himself up the enormous metal side of the Fire Nation ship.

At least they were wearing their backpacks, especially for Tony, who would've lost Jarvis if he'd left it behind.

On deck, a dozen armoured soldiers waited for them.

"They cost you dinner, soldiers," the captain said, apparently having regained his bravado.

This was the first time Loki had fought someone in a long, long time, but the same trick would work now as then.

His feet slid into a distinctly earthbending stance and he drew in a breath. As the soldiers went to attack, Loki blasted them back with an explosion, then dropped down and used a fiery spinning kick to knock them down. A few hits by Tony took down the rest, apart from the captain.

The captain was a fully capable firebender and it took Loki half a minute to take him down with a fierce volley of flames and finally a kick to the head.

Loki surprised himself with how good he'd gotten at firebending. And he still had a lot more tricks up his sleeve. Especially the big one that the mother dragon, Tsuchi, had been teaching him. He hoped he wouldn't need that one, though, given the associated difficulty.

Now that they were safe for the moment, they took stock of their surroundings.

"Odd ship," Loki said, gesturing at the red flag on the mast that didn't fly the Fire Nation insignia but instead the black outline of a sea raven.

"I just hope it can give us some way of getting where we need to be," Tony shrugged. "I'm good, but these ships are usually run by professional engineers, so I'm not that good."

"I'm sure we'll figure it out," Loki said lightly. "We should clear the rest of the soldiers."

And with that, they took to exploring the ship together, taking down anyone they found and binding them with whatever useful materials were about. Despite being professionals, the soldiers took less fighting that Loki had imagined they would. Or maybe the soldiers were just used to weaker enemies, or not used to fighting firebenders.

No matter the reason, they sucked.

The ship had a large and well-ventilated hold, making the pair of them very curious as to what was inside. It was also locked securely.

"I'll melt it," Loki said, setting himself in a suitable stance.

A thin and stubby orange flame flared from his palm, unimaginably hot, and as Loki honed and concentrated it, it shifted to blue and turned the lock into so much white-hot mush.

He slid the door back before it dried, and then stepped inside, Tony behind him.

The air was warm and very thin and dry, and it reeked just a little bit of caged animal or something similar.

Loki sent out a thin jet of flame to light the torches along the walls adjacent to himself.

And when he saw what was in the room, he wanted to puke. Nearly did, too, and Tony gasped and then swore in shock.

Caged people, stacked up like animals, their hands bound and their heads bowed in purest despair.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" Loki said. It probably wasn't his cleverest remark, but it was good enough. "We're not Fire Nation. We're here to help; we'll get you out of here."

He didn't particularly care who they were, if they were rightfully imprisoned or not.

A few of the caged people raised their heads or said something, but Loki couldn't make it out.

"Get to it," Tony said, his voice tight and thin.

All in all there were around fifty or sixty people in the cages, each alone, each bound. Every cage was padlocked.

As Loki got closer he realised by their dark skin and blue eyes that they were all Water Tribe people. He wondered what he'd wandered into.

Regardless, as Tony began levering off locks with his dagger, Loki summoned another melting flame and began searing them off with them. Once he'd unlocked them, he unbound the people inside and gave them a few soft words of encouragement before moving on. He could rally their spirits when they were all free.

He hadn't realised how gruesome the war was.

As Loki moved forward to destroy more locks, an icy cold hand grasped his arm weakly.

 

"Loki...?" a hoarse voice said, from the person he'd just freed.

Loki turned instantly, but didn't recognise the person who beseeched him until he realised her distinctive burgundy hair had been hacked off close to her skull.

"Nat?" he said in disbelief. "Spirits, Nat, how-"

He choked on his words as he helped her from her cage, tugging her into his arms. She was clammy and skinny, nothing like her former voluptuous self.

Loki just held her for a moment. There was a difference between rescuing people you didn't know and people you did.

"Loki? You doing anything?" Tony called, freeing more people.

"I - it's Nat," Loki said. "But yes."

"Nat?" Tony said, his voice a little strained. He then said something in the manner of a curse under his breath. "We have to keep moving."

Loki put her down and started to get to work helping the others, who were in an equally bad state, but Nat couldn't seem to let go of Loki's coat and wrapped her fingers tightly in the soft leather, clearly distressed.

"It's okay," Loki murmured. "We're going to get you out of here."

"Water," Nat said shortly. After a few seconds, she drew herself away from Loki and wandered off, looking just a little dazed.

"Don't go too far," Loki said distractedly as he helped free others.

Once they were all free - five dozen of them, all haggard and weak - Loki and Tony led them out of the ship's hold and towards the daylight. They were undoubtedly Water Tribe folk; getting out in the open air would do them a world of good.

They were stopped on the way by a platoon of guards.

Loki's feet slid into position from long practice, while Tony drew his sword. But there was no need, because a belt of water circled them from behind and froze them all solid.

Nat looked a lot more lively with her arms encased in water.

The people they'd been leading instantly perked up at the sight of the water, and feeling their plight, Nat siphoned off her own to give everyone some.

They were all waterbenders. The connection was now clear.

-O.O-

The captain had claimed his people wanted to dock. True to form, supplies were limited, but Tony and Loki added their own and made sure all of the starving waterbenders got some. Going hungry was worth it for them in the circumstances.

After they locked the Fire Navy soldiers in the hold, they chopped up the captain's wooden deck and Loki made a bonfire for everyone to huddle around. They also retrieved robes and armour to warm everyone up.

Nat didn't speak much, but squeezed between Loki and Tony when they sat down.

One of the waterbenders, someone with an authorative air to them, spoke up when his people were comfortable.

"Thank you for everything," he started. "My name is Nakor. You saved us from the Southern Raiders; no one taken by them ever returns, and so we can only be grateful."

"Why?" Tony asked. "How did this happen? What are they trying to do?"

"They don't want to fight us and conquer us," Nakor told them. "We have nothing they want. But they want us out of the war. They have been launching raids, taking our waterbenders and imprisoning them to remove us from the fight. This has been happening for a few years now, and already our people are massively weakened."

"Unbelievable," Loki said. "How can you make it stop?"

"Defeat the Fire Nation," someone else cut in with a dry chuckle. "That would be good."

"We're trying," Loki said. "Trust me. But for now, we'll dock tomorrow, get you more supplies, and send you home."

"And the soldiers?" Nakor said.

"Drop them in the town," Loki said. "I don't care. What they did is disgusting."

"I like you," Nakor announced. "What are your names?"

"Tony, son of Howard. I'm a blacksmith, from Ba Sing Se," Tony introduced with a smile and a respectful bow.

"Loki, son of no one," Loki said. "I was the prince of Ba Sing Se until the king exiled me."

"I can see why," someone else said amusedly. "Are the rest of the Earth Kingdom royals firebenders in disguise?"

"I'm adopted," Loki said dryly. He shifted to make himself more comfortable, seeing as Nat had fallen asleep on him.

She'd been acting strange, unlike her usual ferocious self. Loki hoped she was okay; there were a few other people who sat oddly still and didn't speak, too affected by their journey.

"You know Nat, then?" Nakor asked. "She's never taken to someone so quickly, otherwise."

"We met a few years ago," Tony said. "She sort of robbed us, we were rude to her, then her and Loki had a bending fight and now we're best friends."

Nakor smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. She's been alone for too long. But that isn't my story to tell."

"No, it's not," Loki said softly, wondering what had happened to Clint.

As night fell, everyone went inside and found themselves a bunk. Yes, they weren't clean, but a bed was better than a cage.

Loki was too wound up to sleep and instead settled himself in the bridge, looking through maps and transmissions to catch up on the war. After Tony had carried Nat to a bed, he joined him.

"This is screwed up," Tony said. "I can't believe what they've been through."

"We're helping," Loki said. "One part of me wants to run from the war and keep out of it, but the other part knows full well that I can help people and I should."

"I know what you mean," Tony said. "But after what we've seen today, I don't think that we can stay away."

"No," Loki said, drooping in his chair a little. "We can't. We have to stabilise Ba Sing Se first."

"And then we move forward from there. Maybe I was onto something with the first Firebending Corp, yes?" Tony teased.

"Oh, yes. What a pleasure that would be," Loki sighed. "You should get some sleep."

"Not until you do," Tony said, wrapping his arms around Loki from behind and pressing a kiss to his neck. "We need to get moving tomorrow."

"Of course," Loki said, pulling himself from his chair to kiss Tony back. "Let's go."

-O.O-

The next morning they rose early, pulled the anchor they'd dropped the previous day and made for shore. Tony went through a few manuals and figured out how to get the ship moving towards the port, sending a few waterbenders down to shift coal.

Loki spared a moment's thought for the Fire Navy soldiers in hold. Just a moment. Then he moved on.

Nat woke up after they'd turned for shore. She came wandering into the bridge with her blanket tightly wrapped around herself and stood there quietly for a moment.

"Good morning," both Tony and Loki said.

She held her silence for another long moment, then said "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Tony said, a little stiffly. "You okay?"

"Hungry," she admitted shortly. Her blanket was covering her mouth and so her words were muffled. "Good to see you."

"I didn't think we'd meet again," Loki admitted. "Your bending has improved."

"Thank you," Nat said again, blandly. She clearly wasn't interested in talking.

"Where's Clint?" Tony asked.

She averted her blue eyes. "I don't know."

A moment's silence again, just a little awkward.

"Loki!" Nakor called. "The water is shallowing. This ship may be too big to dock here."

"I am utterly and completely the wrong person to tell that to," Loki replied. "Come and talk to our chief engineer. Did you take the flag down?"

He received an affirmative reply.

There was no disguising the fact that this was a Fire Navy ship, but they'd taken down the sea raven and replaced it with a blue flag (made of someone's jacket) and a white one (made from a stretch of cloth someone had pulled from somewhere) to try and pacify the dock workers.

After discussing it with Nakor, Tony came over and talked to Loki. "Sorry, captain. Nakor and a few of his guys tested the water depth and we won't be able to get this ship into port. But there's a smaller lifeboat on board, we'll get into that."

"Fine, fine," Loki said. "We don't need this ship; are they taking it?"

"Nakor wants to head back South with the ship and go home. I guess everyone'll go with him," Tony said.

"Are you going with him, Nat? You're more than welcome to come with us, but we're heading into a war zone, so I'd understand if you weren't enthusiastic," Loki asked.

"There's nothing for me in the South. It's not safe. And there's no one there I care about," Nat said. Finally, a small smile came across her face. "Besides, I want to fight."

Loki grinned at that. He wanted Nat along. It seemed Tony did too, judging by his facial expression.

As they came as close to the port as they could, no one attacked them, which was a nice sign. Tony, Loki, Nakor and several others got into the lifeboat, but Nat declined; instead, she removed her coat, leaving her in just her underwear, and dove into the water. She swam with them to the shore, looking a lot better - and cleaner - when they arrived.

She hadn't been alone in her desire to swim. The moon was nearly full the night before and all the waterbenders hadn't really been able to resist the urge when they woke up in the morning.

When they got to shore, someone offered Nat their coat, which she wrapped around herself. Despite her badly-cropped hair and her slightly emaciated appearance, she looked much livelier.

Many people had gathered on the dock to see the people who had taken over a Fire Navy ship come to shore.

Nakor announced himself first, the born leader, and explained what had happened. The crowd's mood changed quickly from hesitant to proud and rebellious, cheering over their very small defeat of the Fire Nation.

"Our favourite pirates," Nakor announced, gratefully introducing Tony and Loki to the group.

-O.O-

After spending the morning there securing supplies for Nakor's crew and themselves, Tony, Loki and Nat intending to leave town and start heading towards the front.

"I could not recommend going through the Kolau Mountains, so to go where you wish to go you must follow the coast," a townsperson said when Loki asked them. "Be wary of ships is all I can say. And be careful."

"Thank you," Loki said with a respectful bow, rejoining Tony and Nat. "We follow the coast to avoid the mountains," he told them.

Then there was only the farewells to give to Nakor and his crew.

"Fly the sea raven flag," Loki told Nakor urgently after they'd said their parting words. "If the Fire Navy sees a captured ship they will destroy you."

"Thank you, Loki and Tony. And goodbye, Nat; I hope you find both happiness and closure with your friends," Nakor said, waving them off as they left the village to the north-west and started following the path.

It wouldn't take them too long to get to the front, and then to Thor. It was just a matter of what to say when they got there.


	2. You wanted the West Village in flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki meets Thor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, um, it's a little late. Exams. And I figured that I'd write the next chapter of this during the exams while procrastinating, but to my surprise, I actually studied. That's nice for me, but it also means I left this un-updated like an ass. Fortunately it's a long chapter. I'll buy you off with that.

Walking. It was something that adventuring required.

Tony was hoping one day that someone would invent a quicker method of travel, aside from ostrich-horses, which they'd been reluctant to take because the amount of money required to obtain three was more than they'd thought to bring.

His current plan was at least to get one for Nat, because time spent bound tightly in a cage had wasted her muscles and walking long distances was quite beyond her.

Not that she'd complain. She just kept going.

She didn't talk so much at the start. But as they kept walking, she opened up more, and while she wasn't overly willing to talk about herself, she had many questions about what they'd been doing.

"A dragon? Really?" Nat said, smiling with wonder as the campfire made her eyes glow and spark.

"Her name is Tsuchi," Loki told her. "She's rearing a clutch of dragonets on the island."

"You should train one and ride one," Nat told him. "You'd be like one of the old firebending masters from the stories."

"I want to," Loki admitted.

"Hopefully it's a two-seater," Tony said. "The only thing better than blacksmithing with a firebender has got to be smithing with a dragon."

Tony had a great fondness for old stories, and really liked the idea of making a legend of his own. He'd put his money on the right hog-monkey in Loki's case.

All they needed now was an Air Nomad and they had someone from everywhere. But that was a little unlikely.

Not for the first time, he wondered about how much Fire Nation Loki had in him.

The thing was, back when Loki had discovered he was adopted, he'd been told he was the Fire Lord's bastard. But that hadn't been confirmed, and over time Loki had stopped saying that. Probably he'd stopped thinking it too.

But after seeing Loki actually firebend in combat against other firebenders the day before, defeating them with ease, Tony wasn't so sure Loki should've dismissed the possibility. One of the reason the Fire Nation royal family were running the show was because they were the best firebenders out there. Loki's fire burned hot and bright, and he could generate massive amounts of it. Sometimes it even curled blue or white in the middle. Now that he was trained, he was _good_.

Plus there was the trick Tsuchi had been teaching him. That would be useful in an emergency.

A little cold, he shifted closer to Loki and cuddled into his side. Loki's skin was always warm, warmer than a normal person's, and that had seen him through many a chilly night on the island.

Awkwardly, Nat had done the same on the other side of Loki.

"I lit a campfire so I _wouldn't_ have to deal with your icy cold bodies touching me," Loki said indignantly. Neither of them moved an inch.

"What's your plan, Tony?" Nat asked him.

Tony was mildly amused that she automatically assumed Tony was in charge. Little did she know that he was just hanging on for the ride.

He was surprisingly happy like that. Loki always led him to the most interesting places.

"My plan," Loki said. "My plan is to find my brother and convince him that he needs to rule the Earth Kingdom. A small child and a shady secret service might be suitable rulers in peacetime, but he is a General and this is war."

"You ran away from him five years ago under negative circumstances. Why's he going to listen to you?" Nat asked.

"You raise a valid point, Nat, and for that I have no answer," Loki admitted. "At this point I'm just going to act like a loving caring sibling and then whisper in his ear a little. It's worked for other authority figures."

"It's true. Jiahui, the mayor of our town, just loves him," Tony said.

"I think she likes you more. Especially after you made her that lovely iron dragon sculpture for the hall," Loki murmured.

Their town was beginning to embrace being near dragons, and Jiahui wanted to try and make it a tourist destination for people to see Tsuchi and her babies.

Tsuchi had apparently communicated to Loki that she didn't mind. Tony had absolutely no idea if Loki was actually understanding the dragon or just full of bullshit, but if it was the former, then he didn't comprehend how Loki could get a dialogue going with a big lizard.

Hey, his boy was special, and he knew that. But the dragon plainly could not talk.

Loki wriggled away from the pair of them to give their roasting food a poke. Not knowing how long it would take them to reach Thor, they'd decided to save their dried and preserved food, instead catching some of the local wildlife. Nat was an excellent dresser.

Lucky Jarvis got the offal. Full of food, the turtle-fox had withdrawn into his shell inside Tony's sleeping bag already.

The night was icy cold and clear, so typical of Spring, and despite the situation, Tony was glad to be out there.

-O.O-

Finding Thor's camp wasn't hard. He was travelling with about a third of the Earth Kingdom's active fighting forces, and between them and their animals they ate so much that they were relying on nearby villages somewhat for food. Therefore, everyone could point them in the direction of the great all-consuming horde. Once they'd left the mountains region this was mostly a matter of heading north-west.

The first clue they had was that a river they crossed was a murky black with ash. Then smoke drifted towards them from a long way off.

The front.

As it was getting dark, they decided to camp just inside the edge of the forest and reach the camp tomorrow.

For once they shared out some of their dried food, not wanting to split up and hunt owing to how close they were to the danger.

Tony's job for the evening was cleaning and drying Jarvis, who, being a naturally water-loving species, had gone for a swim in the polluted river and was looking a little peaky. Nat was waterbending, doing transmutations from ice to liquid to gas with a small amount of water. With nothing else to do, Loki was dicking around with his old trick of swirling sparks around his fingers.

"We need our stories straight," Tony said, picking dead bugs from his familiar's fur. "Nat, how are we going to introduce you?"

"A companion from the Northern Water Tribe," Nat shrugged, unaffected.

"He'll want to know if you're highborn. I ask because I don't particularly know anything about you," Loki said.

"I'm not," Nat said. "Just one of the crowd."

Her hair was growing in already, Tony noticed. The bald patches were steadily being covered with burgundy fuzz. And all the extra food they'd been making her eat had rounded her cheeks out again, even in the relatively short time they'd been walking.

Yeah, someone would have questions. Her hair colour was literally one-of-a-kind.

"Fair enough," Tony said. He didn't want to push her; it wouldn't get them anywhere.

Loki was a different sort, as always. "You have to give us something."

"Make something up," Nat said shortly.

"If you insist," Loki said. "Can you at least tell us what happened to Clint? He was our friend too."

Nat managed to simultaneously smile and scowl a little bit, an impressive effort. "He shot the commander of the Southern Raiders. Right there." She pointed at the middle of her forehead. "It made a mess. He ended up on one of their boats even though he's not a waterbender. That was months ago; no one ever comes back from where they take us."

Both Loki and Tony found themselves much sadder for the news. But it was good for Nat to share it, and she actually told them a few stories about him. 

They'd been close. His loss had clearly seriously affected Nat.

It became clear to them that they'd bonded over the fact that neither of them were taken seriously in the North. Nat was a girl, and non-benders were expected to do many things, but take up the longbow was not one of them.

Apparently they had been trouble-makers in equal amounts. They'd sparred together in secret, but Nat had been caught and told off for misbehaving and not using her bending like a proper lady, so she'd left. No quarter given.

Without meaning to, Nat told them nearly everything about her childhood. She even became rather animated when recounting a few of the sillier stories.

Eventually she petered out as she slid into her sleeping bag, but she was smiling a little, much happier than she'd been earlier.

"One more question," said Loki, who clearly had no idea how hard to push things anymore. "Why'd they cut your hair off?"

Nat's lips thinned. "They said it hid my pretty face."

Tony could picture that; the prisoners with their arms bound, hair over their faces, and some filthy guard bullying Nat especially...he would never, ever regret attacking the Southern Raiders on their ship and freeing them.

The fire from the forest in the distance had made the general area somewhat warm, so there was no need to sleep in separate sleeping bags for warmth and Tony and Loki bedded down together.

Nat fell asleep quickly and so Tony and Loki kept their voices down.

"What're you going to do tomorrow?" Tony whispered. "Thor might be pissed. You haven't spoken to him for years."

"Bravado and cunning, Muscly Arms," Loki murmured back. "Also, the I'm-your-beloved-and-only-remaining-brother angle."

"Ah, that's a good one."

"Oh, I know," Loki accompanied this with a winning smile.

"One more thing. He might not recognise you. And his soldiers almost definitely won't," Tony said.

"True."

"So if you start throwing fire around, they _will_ kill you."

"Also very true."

"We walk in unarmed and peaceful," Tony concluded. "Or you'll have a rock wedged in every orifice before you know it."

"I could fight them," Loki chuckled quietly.

"Maybe. Or maybe not. You're not risking my life to find out," Tony said.

"Triply true," Loki said. "We should get some sleep."

"Of course," Tony said, leaning forward to kiss Loki on the forehead.

"What am I, a casual acquaintance?" Loki said. "On the mouth, Tony."

Then he took the initiative and kissed Tony on the mouth himself, and Tony could feel that he was smiling.

"Still right here," Nat muttered. "Save it for another time."

-O.O-

In the morning, they all bathed in the river and tidied themselves up, putting on clean clothes and generally primping. Tony cleaned his muddy belongings. Nat shaved her head cleanly so her hair was all the same length. Loki tied his own up in a topknot, binding it with the carved dragon scale headpiece Tony had made him. Once they were all packed up and looking nice enough to come before a general in the army, they set off.

It wasn't far to the camp, and it wasn't hard to find, either. A big army camp stood out. As such, they just walked right up to it.

Being on the front lines, plenty of guards were posted despite the early hours.

"Who goes there?" one of the two guards nearest them said, feet moving into sturdy earthbending forms.

"My name is Loki," Loki said lightly, staying calm. "I would like to see General Thor."

"And why would that be?" the other guard said.

"I need to consult with him about the future of the Earth Kingdom," Loki said firmly. "Send a runner, tell him who it is."

"He's already got a whole council of people telling him things about the kingdom," the guard said stubbornly. "What makes you so special?"

"I'm his brother, you dunce," Loki said, letting a little frustration slip out.

"The General's brothers are dead," the guard said suspiciously. "How do I know-"

At the same time, Tony detected movement in his periphery and heard Nat say "For the love of-" before she smacked them both unconscious with a water whip.

"Thank you," Loki said, stepping past them nonchalantly.

"I'm not liking your idea of subtlety, Lokes," Tony warned.

"It's okay. Once Thor sees me all will be well."

"Maybe," Tony said pessimistically.

Most of the people in the camp were still asleep. When the few people that were about looked at them funny, Tony just made sure to look calm and confident. He was visibly Earth Kingdom in origin, so he went to the front of the group to make it look like he was boss.

Thor's residence was obvious. It was a big stone building, clearly erected by earthbenders, and flying the royal sigil in yellow and green on top. Subtle.

Two very alert guards were standing at the entrance.

"You may not pass," one said.

They both moved into earthbending stances. Predictable.

"Thor!" Loki called. "Come here!"

"Do not talk to the General in such a way!" the guard said. "Stand down and surrender, or we will have to use force."

"Just let Thor come here a minute," Tony wheedled.

"Please," Nat said.

"General, don't come out here!" the guard yelled at the entrance.

"General, please come out here!" Loki called back.

The stone door opened and the General emerged, looking confused and annoyed. "What is all this noise about?"

Thor had been big when Loki had last seen him, but he'd increased in breadth since then due to sheer muscle and was simply a really huge person now, occupying an impressive amount of space. He radiated strength.

No wonder he was a general; the enemy probably cacked themselves when they saw him.

That was what Tony thought when he first saw him, anyway. But Tony wasn't very tall, admittedly.

Unknown to Loki, Thor's first thought was something along the lines of wondering how a Fire Nation man had made it through his crack defenses. It was only after a few seconds' examination and a look into green - not amber - eyes that he understood.

"Loki?" Thor asked in amazement.

"Guilty as charged," Loki said with an easy smile.

"Loki!" Thor repeated, this time an exclamation of joyful surprise as he pushed past his own guards and squeezed his little brother into a hug. "How are you here?"

"I heard the news," Loki said grimly into Thor's shoulder.

When Thor pulled back, his hands still on Loki's shoulders, his mouth had narrowed into seriousness and he said "And can I trust that you are not here on Fire Nation business?"

Loki managed to restrain himself to only a short puff of annoyance before answering. "Yes, you can trust the person who has never been to the Fire Nation or ever spoken to a Fire Nation officer and was raised in Ba Sing Se to not be affiliated with the Fire Nation, Thor."

"No need to be so sarcastic, I think. I had no way of knowing that," Thor said, but he seemed less uncertain about Loki. "It's good to see you. Who are your companions?"

Tony stood up a little straighter as Loki stepped back to introduce them.

"This is Anthony. He's the excellently skilled blacksmith who was with me when I first left Ba Sing Se," Loki said first. "And his turtle-fox, Jarvis."

"We've met before, I remember," Thor said.

"I made your warhammer," Tony said with a winning smile.

Thor grinned back in recollection. "Ah, yes. I still prize it above all other weapons."

"And this is Nat, of the Northern Water Tribe," Loki concluded.

Nat gave a respectful bow, fist pressed to hand, but said nothing. Thor made a similar gesture.

"We came here so I could speak to you about the future of Ba Sing Se," Loki said.

"I suppose you think you should be king, as Odin's next of kin," Thor said. "I would advise against it."

Loki looked surprised at that; Tony didn't blame him, because nothing could have been further from the truth.

"No," Loki said. "You should be king."

Now Thor looked annoyed. "So I have been told."

"And judging by your faces, I think this is something you need to discuss a lot more," Tony said. "Look. I'm no diplomat, but Lokes, leave Thor to eat breakfast and wake up a bit. You get your thoughts together, and we parley in an hour or two. Am I right, Nat?"

"No one at home ever discusses anything without eating first," Nat agreed.

Both brothers now had the exact same look of annoyance.

"Do it," Tony said, taking Loki's hand and leading him away.

"Really, Tony," Loki said. "Putting us in time-out."

"Not for you, so much," Tony admitted. "But Thor doesn't look like he's in the mood for niceties. You're going to ask a lot of him, you want him well-fed and ready to go."

"Point taken," Loki said. "But don't get between Thor and I."

"I can handle you."

"You can. But he's very quick with his warhammer," Loki said.

A fair reminder. That block of impure metal Thor carried around would shatter his bones.

On thought, Tony became slightly more afraid of Thor's hammer. The reason it wasn't made of the finest quality steel was because Thor had an aptitude for moving impure metals with his earthbending and wanted to teach himself to move the hammer. When Tony had last seen him, he hadn't been able to. But that could've changed.

To give Thor some time, Tony and Loki took a walk around the compound. Them coming from the inside of the compound didn't seem to bother the guards at all.

Loki's first priority became Thor working on his security.

The whole camp had been quickly whipped up by earthbenders and as such was mostly composed of earth tents. Clothes were spread out to dry in the morning sun after a wash in the river. Groups of people were spread out chatting and eating their own food.

Nat got quite a few looks from people, unconventional as her appearance was. Tony, on the other hand, blended in perfectly. Loki just tried to not look like a firebender.

After about an hour, they returned to Thor's tent to find the man eating outside his tent with several other high-ranking officers.

Thor waved them inside the tent and Loki nodded, leading the way.

The tent was sparsely decorated, being a temporary fixture. There was nowhere to sit down, only a bedroll on the floor, a table with maps on it dominating the room, and a few storage chests in the corner.

So Tony and Loki sat down on the floor, and Nat swooshed all the water out of her water skin on her hip and made herself a little stool. No common fair for her.

After only a minute or two Thor came in to speak to them. The question of sitting places was answered when Thor simply made them a few earth chairs and flopped himself down in one. Loki took another, while Tony hovered for a moment.

"In answer to your silent question, Tony, I would prefer to talk to Loki alone, yes," Thor said.

"And I'd prefer it if you stayed," Loki cut in sharply.

"And I, the person we're talking about, think I should leave so you can talk," Tony said. "Nat can do what she wants."

It was in Tony's best interests to get the best possible outcome, after all. And that wasn't going to happen while Thor was outnumbered and mildly on the defensive.

"I want to look around," Nat said, despite the fact she'd just been exploring the camp. Getting up and removing her chair, she made her way out. Tony followed her.

Loki looked for a moment like he was going to protest, but let them go.

As Tony was leaving the tent, one of Thor's officers hailed him down and said "Tony? You're Howard's boy! You made my sword! Have a seat!"

And he did. It was nice to be recognised, even if it was on the part of his father.

-O.O-

Thor hugged Loki again once they were alone.

"Tell me everything, brother - where you went and how you got there. The serious things can wait."

"I'm not sure they can."

"If they could wait the time it took for you to journey here, they can wait an hour or two longer. It's been five years, and I wish to know my brother again," Thor said. "How did you escape Ba Sing Se? I suppose Tony helped you."

"He hid me in a cart and walked me right out. Jarvis sat on my head the whole time," Loki said.

"Odin spent a long time wondering how you got out from under his nose," Thor said. "Our brothers and I didn't find it hard to believe the cleverest of us had been able to slip away."

"It feels strange, calling you brothers again," Loki admitted.

"You were never anything but," Thor said. "Though I must confess I spent far more time with the others, you were always the admirable one. Odin should have named you king."

"I don't think I would have enjoyed it."

"You were the only one of us who could make it through a whole council session," Thor pointed out. "At least, without appearing bored."

"Also the only one who couldn't make a boulder move, no matter how hard he strained."

"Earthbending does not define you."

"My bending does, or at least my father's nationality," Loki said. "It's easy for you. Everyone loves earthbenders. I was nearly run out of my new home for firebending, and I _was_ removed from Ba Sing Se."

"And if anybody tries to do anything similar while you are here they'll have to answer to me," Thor said. "Arguing does us no good."

"We weren't arguing. Discussing, I would say."

Thor let out a breath through his nose. "Tell me of your life. Please. I want to hear it."

Finally yielding - mostly because Loki felt he'd won that one - Loki did tell his story. All the way from Ba Sing Se to Xīnjū to world explorations and all the way to the dragons' island and Loki's job as a teacher there. This included the story of how he'd first met Nat.

"The mayor is rather fond of me, I think," Loki said, finishing up. "She protects me against people who would banish me for who I am. But the dragons are my favourite part of living there."

"You're turning into something of a dragon yourself," Thor said amusedly. "Your life sounds amazing, brother. I'm happy for you."

Loki was mostly just impressed by his attention span. The old Thor would not have sat through Loki talking about himself for so long. The old Thor was kind of an ass. But this man, the tall, handsome General Thor, was a responsible and likeable person.

"I'm happy for me too," Loki admitted with a smile. "And Tony."

"How did you encounter Nat again?" Thor asked. "I don't doubt she'll become quite an object of fascination in the camp."

Loki quickly relayed their encounter with the Southern Raiders.

Thor's jaw clenched. "The Earth Kingdom Navy is weak, too weak to help them. We have to change that. The Tribes are our allies."

"Oh, I fully agree. However, you may find that finding people to lead your navy might be difficult. Earth Kingdom citizens tend to prefer their feet on dry land," Loki said. "How about you? How did you become General Thor after being Thor, Prince Regent?"

"Father always intended for me to be the next Earth King," Thor said. "But I could not see myself in that role. Baldr, however, has - had - always had his leadership abilities. If I stepped down, he would become the king, and I was free to do as I wanted. I joined the army as a leader on the front lines, and have never had cause to regret it. Aside from how I miss my family."

Thor had a valid point; Baldr had easily been the most mature of the siblings, already married and naturally gifted with leadership. But Odin had wanted Thor on the throne, so Baldr's skills had basically been ignored and he'd spent his time with his brothers or his wife.

"What happened to them?" Loki asked. He almost dreaded the answer. Odds were, it was suspicious.

"A monorail accident," Thor said. "The track collapsed and crushed them all aside from Nanna and Forseti, who were back at the palace."

"Forseti is the new king?" Loki asked.

"Yes. He is only five years old, however, so a warden will speak in his place."

"You don't honestly believe that a monorail accident took out our family, do you?" Loki said.

"That was what I was told. I never particularly considered the truth of it," Thor said. "Do you think otherwise?"

"Odin, Vidar, Baldr, and Hodr were all excellent earthbenders. The crash would have to be especially violent," Loki said. At this distance and having not seen any of them for years, it was easy enough to talk about them so impersonally, but he could still feel a tugging undercurrent of grief. "It doesn't suit the Dai Li for there to be a large, strong royal family, Thor. Having one underage royal to deal with is much easier."

Thor could not have looked more deadly serious. "This is what you believe?"

"It is," Loki said. "Odin never trusted them and you should not either. The city guards run the monorail, and the Dai Li run everything."

Thor sat back a little, pondering Loki's words. "And what would have me do?"

"I'm not sure," Loki said. "Return to Ba Sing Se and take your proper place, I suppose."

"And who would lead the army?"

"One of your deputies?"

"I don't think so," Thor said. "I can't go back, Loki. You may not have noticed, but there is a war ravaging our land and people."

Loki cursed internally at his brother, but managed to keep a cool and calm veneer. At least there were no candles about, or Thor would have seen right through it.

"Then who is Forseti's warden?" Loki asked calmly.

"I wanted it to be Nanna; she's a most reasonable woman, and can teach her son a lot. But this suggested was vetoed in my most recent correspondence," Thor said, getting up and retrieving a letter.

Loki read it briefly; it was all about settling things now that most of Thor's - and his own - family was gone. The most relevant part was the suggestion that the head of the Dai Li become the warden, instead of Nanna and in Thor's absence.

Because in normal circumstances, Thor would be the warden, or another relative. That included Nanna, and until he'd been delegitimised, Loki too.

"This is unacceptable," Loki said, wiggling the paper.

"I don't see you volunteering," Thor said, a little mulishly now.

"As the son of no one, I don't have a claim to it," Loki said. Then he chuckled bitterly. "Funny that; I'm the son of two kings and yet I'm still technically considered lowborn. That would be a bastard's lot in life, I think."

"Two kings?" Thor asked, confused.

"Didn't Odin tell you?" Loki said. He could feel the snake in him relishing giving Thor a nasty surprise. "The reason he adopted me was because I'm supposedly the Fire Lord's bastard. It's not like he'd take on some useless child for any other reason."

"Loki," Thor said warningly. He'd never had much patience for that one tone of voice that Loki used, something acidic and cruel. "Is this true?"

"As far as I am aware," Loki shrugged. "Mother told me most of it."

"You mean no less to me after I learn that," Thor said. "You are my brother. I was perhaps not always as good a brother as I could have been, but you are still my brother."

"Yes, well, I think I had my failings too," Loki said. "Let bygones be bygones. But what are you going to do about Forseti?"

"Ah, yes. I have come up with a solution," Thor said, sitting up straight.

"And?" Loki said expectantly.

"I'm sending my most trusted envoy to Ba Sing Se to bargain for Nanna to become the Warden. Failing that, my envoy will take over the job himself," Thor said. "He will do as I say, because I outrank him and my wish is his command."

"And this envoy would be...?" Loki said dryly, feeling like he already knew.

"Why, the Young Dragon and his two companions, of course. No one understands politics better than him," Thor said. "Do I make myself clear, brother?"

"The Young Dragon, really?" Loki said. It wasn't the greatest name he'd ever heard.

"You're no longer a prince; you need a title. Also, as part of the order, I'm reinstating you."

"As what? You're not bloody adopting me, are you? The last thing I need is three fathers."

"As my brother."

"You can do that?"

"You'd be surprised how much power I actually wield," Thor said mildly. He got to his feet and went to his storage chest, hunting down writing materials. "I want to get this down now while it is fresh in my mind. Consider yourself dismissed for now."

"No, thank you," Loki said. "This needs more discussion."

"I disagree. Leave me, please, Loki."

Loki let out a sharp breath through his nose, bowed, and left.

Tony was sitting outside laughing with Thor's companions, but he immediately excused himself when he saw Loki and they set off together. Nat was nowhere to be found.

"That was quick," Tony said. "No time for brotherly love?"

"I think he's a little busy," Loki said, then gave Tony a rundown on what had happened.

Tony mulled it over as they walked. "Loki, you know I'll follow you anywhere."

"And I'm forever grateful for your support."

"But I don't want to live in Ba Sing Se again," Tony said.

"Neither do I," Loki admitted. "The question is, does altruism make you feel like a good person, or do they just tell you that as a child to trick you into doing it?"

"In my experience, it's a trick," Tony said. "Let's go to Ba Sing Se and sort things out. We have to."

"Yes, I think so. We should tell Nat," Loki said.

"Where is she?" Tony asked. "She walked off before."

"Well, let's find out," Loki said, setting off.

Nat had never been a particularly open person; it just wasn't who she was, and not only was that okay, it was perfectly understandable after a lifetime of people telling her no. She really could be anywhere.

They wandered to the river first, going on her love of water, but she wasn't there. After that they could only walk through the camp.

She was, it turned out, in a surprisingly obvious place; watching the earthbenders spar. Except she wasn't on the sideline, she was in line to go next.

"Nat!" Tony called. "What are you doing?"

"Getting some practice," she called back.

One of the men in the ring was thrown out by a pillar of rock, so it was Nat next.

Someone had kindly dragged a water trough next to the ring so she had something to bend.

"Hello, sailor," Nat said with a smile as she squared up against the man in the ring, a burly soldier who lacked a shirt. It was a vicious smile.

"Don't cry if you get hurt, Water Tribe girl," he laughed.

Nat knocked him down with two swipes of water, then froze him to the ground, her smile becoming something of a smirk. "Anyone else? One at a time, mind you."

"Now this is quality entertainment," Tony grinned, taking a seat to watch properly. Loki sat down next to him, amused, but still thinking about Thor.

The soldiers had learned to earthbend in a businesslike way designed for combat. They just cut straight to the attack. But Nat was far more artistic than that, using a mixture of defense and clever moves to take them down.

She'd beaten half a dozen of them when she called a break and went to sit down with Loki and Tony.

"Not bad, huh?" Nat grinned, sitting down and stretching out.

"I must fight you one of these days," Loki smirked back.

"Perhaps, if you're in the mood to lose."

"I'll have to go easy on you," Loki said. "No lightning, I think."

One of Nat's eyebrows went up. "You're joking. You can't really do that."

Loki just gave her an enigmatic look and ended the conversation.

Thor appeared after another quarter of an hour, watching his soldiers fight and occasionally advising them. Then he spotted his brother and his companions sitting off to the side and made to join them.

"I have prepared the relevant documents, Loki," Thor said, sitting down with them. "I don't mind when you leave. Feel free to stay with our camp a few days."

"Don't you have a war to fight?" Loki asked.

"Tomorrow we are moving forward to the other side of this river. There we plan to stay and launch minor attacks against the Fire Nation forces to keep them away from nearby towns. We will not march again for a week or two."

"Let's stay," Nat said decisively. "I'm not looking forward to being on the road again. I need to rest."

"I have friends here," Tony shrugged.

Loki's lips thinned. "If that's what you want."

"I'd like to spend some time with you, too, brother," Thor said. "It can't all be business."

"I can see I have little choice in the matter," Loki said resignedly, settling down.

Thor nudged Loki with his elbow. "We should have a little _agni kai_ of our own, brother."

"A fight to the death?" Loki said dryly.

"Perhaps not so extreme."

"Don't call it that, then."

"My apologies. I wouldn't want to offend your culture."

"It's not my culture," Loki growled. "You're just wrong."

"My apologies again," Thor said, but his face made it clear that he didn't care much for Loki's slight sensitivity.

"And I must decline the offer of a duel, Thor," Loki said.

"Aw, come on, Loki," Tony said. "It's good practice."

"Fire burns," Loki said. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Rocks hurt, too, brother, but I make a point of sparring every day," Thor said. "Please. I've spent the last five years wondering how your bending was going."

"Do it," Nat said. "You'll feel better when you kick his ass."

Loki smiled at that. "You make it sound so tempting, Nat."

"Come on, Lokes. You've been saying you want a real fight," Tony said.

Thor just looked amused at how the pair of them were cajoling Loki.

"Fine. If I must," Loki said. "Thor, if people suddenly begin trying to run me out of camp with pitchforks, it is on your head."

"They will not," Thor said, getting to his feet eagerly. "I will be back shortly will some padding for myself, and my hammer."

Loki was about to protest the hammer when he realised it was an excellent challenge. As Thor left, Loki pulled himself to his feet, gave himself a thorough stretching and began breathing in the methodical way he did before bending.

"You alright with this?" Tony checked.

Loki smiled, though it was a tad wan. "It will be good to fight someone with skill, I think. I'm just worried about hurting him."

"He's tough. You saw him; he's like an armadillo-bear," Tony reassured.

When Thor came back, he broke up a match in the sparring ring to demand his own turn. As he was the boss, everyone got out of his way, and a few people offered to train with him.

"No, thank you," Thor said. "Today I train with the Young Dragon."

"The what?" Tony whispered. "Seriously?"

"Thor likes it," Loki murmured back, taking a few more deep breaths as he walked into the dirt circle.

Thor stomped his foot and the ground flattened out.

Loki pressed his fist to his palm in his usual fashion, dipping into a bow. Thor copied him.

Then they both straightened and observed the other for a short while.

In a sudden movement, Thor sent a rock volleying in Loki's direction. He dodged it easily.

 _The type of bending earthbenders struggle against most is airbending,_ Loki thought to himself. _So I need to take a few aspects of the style. Light on my feet. Be a leaf in the wind._

Loki could manage being light on his feet easily, but his personality was far too fiery and stubborn to ever be a true leaf. It was close enough.

He dodged the next few strikes too, keeping on his toes where he could.

"You cannot win a battle without attacking, Loki," Thor said amusedly.

"You can't win one without actually hitting me," Loki countered.

"Get on with it!" one of the many soldiers on the sideline shouted.

Thor complied, launching a new volley of rocks that Loki navigated quickly and efficiently. He took the time to observe Thor's style, and he felt a little more confident, but Thor was beginning to predict Loki's dodges. It was a two-way street.

The next rock Thor sent at him was a feint to trick him into shifting to the side, where he was met by a slash of earth designed to knock him down. Loki flicked himself off the ground to avoid it, and seeing an opportunity, twisted in the air to deliver a vicious downwards kick that sent a lash of fire at Thor. The general dodged, but only just quickly enough to avoid a burn.

 _And here comes the hate,_ Loki said as he felt the surge of raw emotion that usually accompanied his bending.

Predictably, some did react very negatively to the confirmation of Loki as a firebender. Others didn't care, and still more assumed that Loki was some diplomat or envoy pet of Thor's.

Regardless of which they were, they all wanted Thor to win.

His cat out of the proverbial bag, Loki fired a volley of blasts at Thor to test his reactions. Quick, but not too quick.

The fight began in earnest then, push and pull as Loki dodged and struck while Thor blocked and gave back all he was given.

Being light on his toes was saving Loki, as Thor repeatedly used the earth directly under his brother to strike at him.

Despite the apparent viciousness of their attacks, though, to Loki it was a game. He was mostly too quick for Thor to hit and Thor's defence was mostly too solid for him to break through. They were both masters, and very skilled.

Then Thor threw his bloody hammer. Loki dodged it easily and seized Thor's moment of distraction to get to his side and lash at him.

Thor's hand movements suddenly made a lot more sense when his hammer smashed into Loki's shoulder. He actually heard a _crack_ as something useful was damaged, but he managed to keep his footing somehow.

He felt something shift in his chest as his playful firebending turned to pain and a little bit of anger. His affected arm burned in pain as a few sharp movements created a massive firewall that caused Thor to back up quickly. Loki moved through the flames, unaffected by the fire he was controlling, and came out of the fire in time to put Thor off balance with another huge fireball directed at his feet.

Now that he was up close and Thor wasn't prepared to block, Loki kicked him hard in the abdomen, pushing him onto his ass on the ground.

"Enough?" Loki asked politely.

"I think so," Thor laughed, holding out a hand so Loki could help him up. It was more than that, a gesture of no hard feelings.

Loki wasn't so sure. Fire burned. All the dirt in the ring was smoking a little and blackened, and Thor's skin had gone a little red. And that was just a practice fight, done for fun. How the hell could anyone trust him?

Tony and Nat shouted some kind of smack-talk encouragement, but everywhere else people were booing or grumbling or generally reacting negatively at Thor's defeat.

Thor raised his hands to quiet them. "The man who just defeated me in battle was my own brother, gone from me for five years. Despite his firebending, he is one of us and will be conducting a political mission on my behalf soon. If you wish to address him, it will be as _Prince_ Loki," Thor said firmly. "Anyone with a complaint may come and talk to me."

The way he said that made it clear he didn't want any complaints.

"Your shoulder," Thor said, turning to Loki. "My apologies. You're too sharp; I needed to distract you."

"Well, it worked," Loki said, the pain beginning to properly come through. "I think Nat can heal it."

They went to check this out; both Nat and Tony had many comments to make, but Nat had bad news.

"Not all waterbenders can heal," Nat said. "I'm not one of those that can. I can cool the injury if you like."

Feeling swelling in his shoulder, Loki hastily agreed.

-O.O-

They ate lunch sitting next to the river as Nat tended to Loki's shoulder wound and Tony talked to Thor excitedly about his hammer. Their little party was joined by a few of Thor's friends.

Only two of them were benders, an enormous fat man named Volstagg and a strong silent type named Hogun. The other two, a swordsman named Fandral and one of the very few woman soldiers in the whole camp named Sif, got by on raw skill alone.

Loki sensed something between Sif and Thor, but he said nothing, content to see his brother happy and surrounded by friends.

"How does it feel?" Nat asked curiously as she held icy slush against his shoulder with one hand and ate gravy-soaked bread with the other.

"Cold," Loki said. "I'm not a fan of the cold."

"Toughen up. You wouldn't last a day at home," Nat said.

"And that's why I don't plan to go there," Loki said. "Firebenders need lots of sunshine."

"Then why are you paler than a blind rat-fish?" Tony said unhelpfully.

Loki just _looked_ at him. It was somehow a sarcastic look.

"Here, have some pineapple," Tony said, changing the subject with a grin that let Loki know he was only teasing. "It's good and fresh."

Loki accepted it gratefully with his good arm, taking a bite and letting the sweet tangy juice flood his taste buds. Better than dried meat any day.

-O.O-

That afternoon Thor came and found Loki for a private conversation as Loki was keeping to himself on the riverbank. Nat was sunbathing a short distance away and Tony was nowhere to be found. No doubt he was socialising again.

Loki was sitting in the lotus position, mostly focusing on the pain in his shoulder and trying to release his connection to it.

"What are you doing, brother?" Thor asked.

"Meditating," Loki said shortly. That was probably very obvious, given his position, but Thor had more likely been looking for a conversational in.

Thor sat down next to him and adopted the same posture.

"I missed you," Loki said softly. "All of you, I suppose. I wanted to send a message to Ba Sing Se, but I feared Odin."

"Rightly so," Thor replied. "I always wondered where you had gone."

"Now you know," Loki said. "I've become a peasant."

"A schoolmaster," Thor said. "And Tony a blacksmith. There is no shame in either."

"I should have been there," Loki muttered. "They're all gone."

"You couldn't have known it would happen. I did not. Don't blame yourself."

"There is only moving forward, one can suppose," Loki said. "Like this river. It's polluted with ash and death, but it just keeps flowing."

Thor barked a laugh. "You've become very spiritual. Mother would approve."

"Yes, I suppose she would."

"You need to fix this situation in Ba Sing Se. I'm not a diplomat, Loki; you are. Make your parents proud."

"What, burn down the whole city, or be a complete unknown, some pretty common girl? Both seem like hard work," Loki said dryly.

"Frigga was your mother, Loki, and there is a lot more of Odin in you than you think."

"Oh joy."

"Just fix this. For me, if not them." And with that, Thor leaned over and hugged his brother.

"I'll try," Loki thought, but he couldn't help but feel that he'd bitten off more than he could chew.


	3. We are the challengers of the unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fucking exams. The only justification I can give.
> 
> Because the government can't sort its shit out, I have to sit five exams in three days. Not so bad, really, but that's three in one day. Nine hours of exams, starting at 7am. So I'm a little preoccupied. Sorry; I'm just really angry.
> 
> Anyway, here's the last bit!

For all Tony loved where he lived and who he lived with, being with Thor's camp was a nice break. He'd said goodbye to a lot on leaving Ba Sing Se and catching up on everything was rather exciting.

Unfortunately, it couldn't last, and he knew that. Soon they'd be going to Ba Sing Se itself, to the palace, where odds were the Dai Li would want them gone and the only friendly face would be someone who knew Loki just a little and didn't like him much.

At least they had Nat. She had a certain air about her that made people like the agents just wet themselves.

But they couldn't leave until Loki's shoulder was no longer a black and blue swollen mess. The journey would be way too hard if he was like that, seeing as they were travelling on ostrich-horse-back.

Which, for Loki, involved a lot of meditating, eating, and having his shoulder iced by Nat. Such hardships he was facing.

Tony, on the other hand, just sucked up the good vibes while he could.

Nat, as the final member of their group, was neither here nor there. Almost impassable last time, this time around she wasn't any more open when around other people. When it was just the three of them, she let her guard down again, but for the minute, she was tough to read.

Thor and Loki had been friendly and affectionate for the first few days in the camp, but after a while, it became clear to Tony why they'd had a tense relationship way back when. They were simply hugely different. They saw a problem and moved in opposite directions when solving it. Thor had asked Loki's help to plan their next thrust forward into captured territory; Tony didn't go, but rumour was the pair had gotten so frustrated with each other that Loki had accidently exploded a lamp on the table, which had burned Thor's map. After that they'd called it quits. Loki hadn't wanted to talk about it.

The way Tony saw it, the sooner they headed off, the better.

After just over a week, Loki's shoulder was perfectly functional, and they were more than ready to leave.

"See, Tony, Thor could never hold his drink," Loki insisted in a stage whisper to him. "I'm the most sober one here."

Tony actually thought he was the most sober one at the small banquet Thor was throwing to send them off, but that honour could possibly go to Nat. Certainly not to Loki, who was about as drunk as Tony had ever seen him; back in Ba Sing Se, after one of their sessions at the Metal Man, Loki had been tipsy, but he was much worse now. At least he didn't stand out; Thor was laughing his enormous booming laugh at something Sif and Volstagg were saying to him, Loki was holding a conversation with Fandral, and Nat was talking to someone Tony didn't know, her cheeks red. She was actually a little giggly, which Tony found far too amusing. For once she actually looked her young age, with big blue eyes and burgundy fuzz.

Loki was leaning against Tony now, his arm around his waist as he talked to Fandral about their home on the coast, his free hand making wide sweeping gestures to describe the island and the ocean and Tsuchi. Fandral made a joke, Loki laughed, and Tony interjected with some comment that just made Loki laugh more. It was infectious, and soon Tony found himself draining his glass and joining in on the hysterics.

The Norns knew their social lives were fairly limited at home. This was good for him, he was sure of it.

Things were going so well all evening; Thor and Loki even hugged it out and Loki apologised for blowing up the lamp, the first time either of them had acknowledged that little event publicly.

"Though I really don't have any control over it," Loki reminded Thor. "I get angry, and _boom,_ it just happens."

Thor just laughed and slapped him on the back.

In hindsight, things went into slow motion for Tony for the next minute or so.

Loki winced as Thor's hand came too close to his shoulder.

Fandral tripped and sprawled across the floor.

Her senses alerting her to something the rest of them hadn't noticed, Nat got to her feet quickly.

Then the rock wall shattered as a komodo rhino burst through it, ridden by someone in (surprise, surprise) Fire Nation armour, and charged across the room, smashing the table and trampling more than a few people, including Fandral's leg. The crunch was lost in the chaos.

Two more rhinos followed through the hole, their riders shooting fire blasts. Loki was on his feet in a split second, twisting the fireball and sending it back where it came from.

Everyone was suddenly sobering fast during the attack. Sif was armed and attacking in an instant while the benders in the room righted themselves and launched into the fray. Tony himself drew his sword and moved to head the rhinos off.

The rhinos were not siege beasts; while they were tough, if they stood still they would be annihilated. As such the riders were already moving to drop fire bombs, lash out with a few more fire blasts, and escape out the door on the other side.

For one sweet moment, Tony found himself being passed by a rhino close enough to smell its distinct stench. He slashed with his sword at its shoulder, the razor-sharp and beautifully made blade heading through the thick hide like it was paper. The rhino crumpled onto that leg, screeching pitifully. Its rider went flying, where a boulder of Thor's stopped his flight quite effectively.

The other two rhinos had made it out the door and were smashing through other places, trampling people and destroying belongings.

Tony found Loki with a fire dagger protruding from each hand and with a look on his face that made him look like five minutes ago he'd been drunk and having a good time and was now struggling to adjust. Which was fairly accurate, really.

"Loki," Tony called. "You okay?"

Loki just nodded, blinked hard a few times, then seemed to get himself together. "Where's Nat?" he asked.

"I don't know," Tony said, looking around. Several people were lying around injured or worse, but Nat's dark skin and burgundy hair were not among them, that much was obvious at a glance. There was a crush as all the warriors tried to locate weapons and perhaps some armour and join the fray. Camp followers, servers, and other non-fighting people were tending to the injured.

"Fighting, I suppose," Tony supplied. Loki just kept looking for her. "Loki, perk yourself up a bit. This is your big chance. The last thing any of these raiders expect is a firebender on our side; you'll be able to get close to them without them suspecting anything."

He headed over to the raider he and Thor had taken down, relieved him of his helmet, and gave it to Loki.

"I'm going to help," Tony said, wiggling his already blood-smeared blade and heading out. He  registered Loki moving behind him, hopefully taking his advice.

As Tony tried to find where the action had moved to in the last minute, he decided that he should have been more vigilant. They'd already seen earlier that the camp had terrible security and a time when everyone was relaxing was the best time to attack. All they could do now was push back the rhinos and repair.

One issue was that not all of the camp was made of stone; there were quite a few tents, too, which were just _asking_ for a good trampling. But it did make the rhinos easy to follow.

Most of the action was centred in the middle of the camp where most people received the daily gruel and sat down to chat. After running there, Dao sword in hand, Tony discovered that many people had been trampled and those that hadn't had managed to pen in three or four rhinos. Evidently the ones that had attacked their banquet had only been a few of the total force. The remaining rhinos were still causing chaos, though some were retreating.

With one of his own patented strokes of genius, Tony headed for the main bridge over the river. It being stone, it was much more likely to support the weight of the rhinos than the few other wood ones.

Once he was there, he hid in the shadows of one of the tents and waited.

 _The spirits know I love Loki, but I'm getting bloody sick of firebenders otherwise. These ones ay least,_ Tony thought tetchily. There was a scream in the distance, and he suddenly saw cloth tents in the distance burst into flames.

The thumping of feet alerted Tony to an incoming rhino trying to get out to the other side. Trusting the shadows, he lunged forward, keeping himself low and aiming for the rhino with his sword. This time it didn't give the rhino anything more than a shallow slice, but his sword also passed through the strap holding the rider's saddle on and it slid off, dumping the rider onto the ground.

Startled, the rhino vanished across the bridge and into the night.

Getting to his feet, the rider lashed out at Tony with a fiery blast, which he dodged with the practice of someone who had a firebending master for a commonlaw husband.

They weren't bad, mind you. They just weren't as good as Loki, and Tony had him knocked out and tied up with his own stirrups fairly quickly.

He dragged both his new captive and the broken and cannabalised saddle out of the way and waited for his next victim.

In the distance, he saw the flames on the tents quelling. Good. They would spread wickedly unchecked.

-O.O-

Nat had been part of the fight, at least until the tents exploded. Then she realised that, being the only waterbender in the camp, she was in the most useful position to help.

Water, applied precisely to the right place and in the right way, could quench a fire of any size. The flames were huge, so Nat applied a very large amount of the river to them.

When bending, Nat always felt like the water was an extension of her own being. Something about the way her motions flowed right through into the movement of the water itself. Moving a large mass of water, like the river, made her feel like a giant.

Someone on a rhino came bearing down on her to make her stop putting out the fire. It was the wrong move; someone controlling that volume of water should never be angried. She lashed out with a massive water whip that sent them sailing through the air. Trying not to laugh for the sake of keeping her dangerous look, she continued her efforts on the tents.

-O.O-

Loki was regretting drinking anything. He had slight double vision and his balance was out of whack as he raced toward the action. But he was determined to be useful.

He pushed the helmet Tony had given him onto his head as he moved; the man had had a point with his firebending advantage.

Forcing himself to think wasn't easy, but he wasn't running into a fight without a plan. He wasn't going to make an idiot of himself, or more accurately, he didn't want to do that.

It being night, Loki could probably pass for one of the riders, tragically tossed off his mount and needed to get out before the enemy got him. He'd heard worse plans. The trick was getting close enough to use that plan without any of the Earth Kingdom folk attacking.

He opted to head around the back of a few rock tents. The rhinos sticking it out against the earthbenders were trapped there, but the cramped quarters and general chaos were limiting the amount of damage they were taking. For camouflage, Loki sprouted a fire dagger from each hand; then he ran forward and boldly vaulted onto the back of one of the rhinos. The rider didn't even stir.

Really, it was like he _wanted_ Loki to grab him by the throat, choke him, and throw him at one of the other riders. So he did just that. The rhino under him spooked and lunged forward, and Loki ended up in the saddle. He seized the opportunity and used his vantage point to send a few fierce blasts at the other riders, which distracted them enough for them to be mostly overcome by the earthbenders.

The bloody rhino was still bolting, unfortunately, and Loki's limited experience with other mounts didn't seem to apply to this one at all. Bailing also seemed a bad idea, because people were sending rocks at him.

As he got closer to the bridge out of camp, he resolved to bail then, now that he was clear of the earthbenders. It was just a matter of carefully pushing off the rhino. He did so, landed neatly enough on his feet, and the rhino ran away.

Sure, they were hardy mounts, but they weren't exactly courageous.

He caught movement in the shadows out of the corner of his eye.

"Tony! It's me!" Loki shouted as Tony came out from the shadows of a tent with his sword. It was sharp enough to cut air, Loki knew, and he wanted it nowhere near him.

"Oh, thank fuck," Tony said as Loki slid off the helmet. "How's everything going back - Loki, look out!"

There was a rider on a rhino bearing down on them rapidly, aiming to blow past them and escape. He was almost certainly the last raider to leave. Tony readied his sword but stepped back.

Loki stood his ground as the rhino charged, and Tony really hoped he knew what he was doing.

Hands moving in a wide circular sweeping arc, Loki loosened his usual sharper firebending stance into something more like what Nat would use.

Tony finally got it when he saw the blue-white sparks trailing from Loki's long fingers. He could see Loki's chest expand with a deep breath as he moved sinously and pure energy burst from his extended fingers in the form of lightning.

The rhino was dead before it hit the ground, rolling over onto the rider and continuing to roll several times.

Loki just smiled in a chill way that suggested he'd reached enlightenment.

"Best one I've seen, Loki," Tony grinned. He was excited enough that they'd both survived the sudden raid that he whirled Loki around and kissed him.

Loki smiled against his mouth and kissed him back.

-O.O-

Things got quiet once the rhinos were gone. People calmed down and sorted themselves out, helped repair the tents, helped get people to medics, generally got the camp back together. Thor was angry that such a thing had managed to happen. Nat was just tired from all the bending she'd had to do.

Many people had seen what Loki had done. Less had seen Tony's actions, but those that had had plenty to say about it. When the pair of them walked back to the group, they received blatant looks of gratitude, and Thor openly thanked them.

They just got to work cleaning up with everyone else.

After a few hours, Thor got the report: a few casualties and many injuries, including Fandral's broken leg and Volstagg's burns. Eight cloth tents destroyed. Plenty of smaller objects destroyed. Thor himself had made it out fairly lightly.

By the time morning had come, most of the reparable damage had been repaired and all the injuries had been treated. Thor called an emergency meeting, including Loki, Tony, and Nat, to discuss the night's events.

After plenty of discussing plans to sort out how they were going forward, Thor simply said to the group "Our security is not enough. They were few and we are many; they should not have made it through the camp at all. We can only blame ourselves for what happened. I want patrols, especially at night, trebled. Firebenders hold the advantage at night."

"They do, in that they can generate light," Loki said. "But take it from one who knows, our firebending is far weaker when the sun is down. Use that. They did this amount of damage through shock tactics and raw force, not their own bending."

"Your people need more training in how to fight large animals. Earthbenders should be able to just lift them up and send them flying," Nat added.

"To be frank, Nat, they need better discipline all over," Tony said.

"I was being tactful," Nat said.

"It is not your place to criticise our soldiers," one of Thor's officers said acidly.

Thor made a definitive statement. "It is most definitely their place. Any outside observation is helpful now."

This started up a rousing discussion about tactics and discipline between Thor's people.

Once that had died out and the meeting itself continued once more, Loki said "I suppose you wish for us to stay longer, now we have proven so useful."

"You are still leaving today," Thor said firmly. "I need the full support of Ba Sing Se to fight this war. If Ba Sing Se becomes rotten, then our efforts will collapse. You will leave in an hour."

That was a fairly sudden order, but Loki was grateful enough.

Tony's attention was suddenly drawn by one of Thor's older officers addressing him directly. "It's a pity you don't smith for the army anymore, boy ... it's a rare sword that can cut through a komodo rhino's hide like yours."

Tony drew his sword and wiggled it proudly. "I only make the best, you know. You should all be begging me for a Tony dagger to call your own."

The officer laughed. "I might just. A non-bender's got to make an impression."

"You've got that right," Tony said, tilting his head at Loki and Nat. It was hard to shine in a fight when you were working with those two.

More laughter, which other officers joined in on.

Sometimes it was so hard being immensely charming.

-O.O-

An hour later, and as promised, Loki, Tony, and Nat were all in the saddle.

The journey to Ba Sing Se was uncomplicated. The ostrich-horses were easy to keep fed and they had plenty of supplies; on top of that, the roads were wide and simple to follow. There was no drama involved, which was nice, because Tony sensed that a lot was to come.

Tony's main source of entertainment was watching Jarvis adjust to the new form of transport, and watching Nat mock Loki about the return of his prince title.

("Does being a prince mean you own all the turtle-ducks? I heard that in a story back home.")

The most notable event was that one time someone tried to rob them. It lasted all of five or so seconds, but Nat startled her mount by waterbending suddenly and it threw her off into a mud puddle. The animal was caught again, but the dignity Nat had lost was tragically irretrievable, mostly because Loki and Tony wouldn't stop laughing. Then Loki suffered a snowball to the head while Tony got ice down his shirt. The pair of them had subsequently picked Nat up and thrown her in a pond to wash the mud off.

Perhaps starting a water fight had been immature, and a water fight against a waterbender shortsighted, but it was worth it.

Aside from that, the journey passed in a montage of stays in inns, long rides down empty roads, and playful bickering.

At the ferry into Ba Sing Se, none of them had passports, but the fact that they were bearing documents with Thor's seal on them was enough to get the ferry that had just left returned to the dock to pick them up, all so they could get into the city faster.

"This is better than last time I was on here," Loki remarked dryly as he leaned over the railing of the ship. "Your familiar isn't sleeping on my head, for a start."

Tony picked Jarvis up and wiggled him at Loki. "We could always change that, you know."

"I think not," Loki said. "It turns out there's only so much of it one wishes to experience."

"You're talking with that stupid Upper Ring accent you used to have," Tony informed him.

"I know. I'm practicing, to sound official," Loki said.

"Personally, I like your country twang better. It's rustic, charming. Just like you."

Loki made a facial expression that was halfway between amusement and exasperation. "You are a terrible creature, my love."

"Yeah, like I said, your accent sounds awful."

Loki flicked a few sparks onto Tony's hand and Tony jumped back with a glare.

"Now you're snobby-sounding _and_ rude," Tony pretended to sulk.

"Quite," Loki said, playing up his accent.

Tony grinned and nudged him with his shoulder, and Loki chuckled.

"Five minutes until we arrive!" someone official-looking shouted. "Keep all your belongings with you and prepare to disembark."

Loki's good mood faded immediately at this news, and really, Tony didn't have anything to say that could perk him up.

-O.O-

When they arrived in Ba Sing Se, their first priority was heading for the palace, of course.

But Nat had never seen anything like the city where both Tony and Loki had grown up, and her usual facade of slight disinterest shattered into blatant fascination. They had to give up some of their money so she could buy some food, some new clothes, lighter shoes, what have you. Her excitement was genuinely infectious, and soon Tony was taking them on a little tour of notable places, because Loki wasn't familiar with areas of the city outside the Upper Ring. This took the rest of the day, and they got a bowl of stew as they headed towards Tony's forge.

It looked much the same after so much time. This was partly due to fact it was mostly made of stone, but also due to the fact someone was living there.

Tony knocked on the door, curious as to who'd taken over his quarters.

A tall, skinny man answered, with similar burns and callouses to Tony's that suggested he was a smith also. When he saw Tony, his face curled into a smirk and he went to speak.

"Oh, _no,_ " Tony said without an introduction, and yanked the door shut in the man's face, whirling on his heel to leave. Loki and Nat dutifully followed.

"Who was that?" Loki said, surprised by Tony's rude outburst. His partner usually had more manners.

"Justin," Tony said. "Miserable excuse for a smith and an even worse one for a person."

"He's probably touched all your things," Nat said helpfully.

"I rather wish we'd actually had sex in your bed now," Loki said. "Just to spite him."

Tony managed a reluctant smile at that.

"Why didn't you?" Nat asked.

"We weren't together then," Loki said idly. "Tony, it's a little late to head to the palace now. I think we should find an inn."

"You got it," Tony said, pondering where to turn for a minute before leading them towards his favourite inn.

Unfortunately, it was now rather run-down, and Nat made some jibe about it not being good enough for the prince. But it was rather disgusting, so they found somewhere else.

-O.O-

All three of them put a lot of effort into looking tidy the next morning. Life on the road, with fleas in your clothes and mud in your hair, was all very well and good, but it wasn't quite the appearance any of them wanted to make, especially not Loki. He even got Tony to put his hair into a tidy topknot with a little oil to help slick it in place.

Nat dressed in tidy Earth Kingdom clothes, but was determined to fly her Water Tribe flag, so to speak, by donning a bright blue tunic she'd picked up the day before.

Poor Jarvis had to curl up in Tony's pack and pretend to not exist. However, this was an excuse to sleep, so the turtle-fox didn't actually complain much.

It was only a short walk to the palace from the inn they'd picked, and Tony noted on the walk that little had changed as one got closer to the royal residence. The palace complex itself had been there for a long time.

Unless there was a public trial like Loki's had been, the general populace was expected to stay out of the bowels of the palace. As such, after assailing the ludicrous number of stairs outside, their entrance was blocked by guards.

Tony deferred to Loki, who knew the procedure better than he did.

"My name is Prince Loki, son of the 50th Earth King, brother of General Thor. I am here on behalf of my brother to deliver several messages penned by his hand for the temporary warden of the 51st Earth King," Loki said coolly. His voice slipped back into the excessively formal and accented way of speaking far faster than he would have liked.

One of the guards looked at him boredly. The other one laughed. "Yeah, you're Loki. Just like I'm the Fire Lord."

"Wait, isn't he the firebender one?" the other guard asked.

"What, the Fire Lord? Of course he is, dumbass."

"No, Loki."

"Yes, I am," Loki said, more than a little irritated. He raised a hand and summoned a small fireball.

Both guards' eyes suddenly widened. "Oh!" the first one exclaimed. Then he calmed down and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Prove that you're him."

Loki retrieved the scrolls Thor had given him, and picked out the one that reinstated Loki as a prince. The guard read it, then sighed and said "I suppose I should take you to the king, then."

"Yes, you should," Loki replied passive-aggressively. Nat looked like she was trying not to smile.

The guard turned and let the three of them into the palace, guiding them inside. Loki strode confidently through the halls up the front; he knew perfectly well where the king's hall was.

It looked largely as Loki and Tony remembered it, inside; the faces had changed, but the palace itself was much the same. The only major difference was probably the lack of gloom. In Loki's childhood, there had only rarely been unnecessary lamps lit. In fact, many alternate methods of lighting a room were used all so that there was no open fire about. Now that Loki thought about it, that would explain why he'd never developed his firebending earlier, which was probably an intentional effort by Odin.

Then they had to sit down and wait while the guards took Loki's letter to someone more official.

Apparently the return of Loki, the runaway firebender, the youngest prince, and whatever else people called him, was a big deal, because it wasn't long before two Dai Li agents came back for them.

"Prince Loki," one of them said. "The king and his warden will see you shortly, alone."

"Not likely. I want Tony and Nat with me," Loki said firmly.

"The warden instructed you be alone."

"The Dai Li was created by Avatar Kyoshi many decades ago for the express purpose of protecting the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se; that is, to keep the monarch on the throne and the royal family happy," Loki recited. "According to that piece of paper, I am part of the royal family. The warden is not. I want Tony and Nat with me."

Loki felt like his 'asshole imperious royal brat' voice sounded good.

There was an intense moment of eye contact between Loki and the agent before the agent gave a bow and led the three of them into the king's throne room.

Again, it looked much the same, only better lit.

Once they had walked up the long carpet, they came to the enormous throne. The king was sitting in it, with the warden at his shoulder.

Everyone was introduced, and Loki learned the warden's name was Guozhi, the head of the Dai Li. He didn't like it one bit.

The young king himself didn't have the unique blond hair of the previous royals like Thor; instead he was a very ordinary looking Earth Kingdom boy with a skinny frame, brown hair, green eyes, and a thin face. He looked a lot more like his mother than his father, and bore no similarity to his paternal grandparents at all. The royal yellow robes and elaborate jewellery he was wearing dwarfed him.

Then, by the laws of social conduct, Loki was expected to speak. But he couldn't.

Loki figured that after all those years and after growing massively as a person, he wouldn't have any qualms about strolling into the palace and talking the talk. But right there in front of the throne, where he'd been so scared and angry once upon a time, disrupted his calm. In layman's terms, he choked, afraid of a repeat performance.

Fortunately, dating Tony had more perks than were immediately obvious. The blacksmith stepped up immediately to fill the gap caused by Loki's throat being blocked by his heart.

"We come here as an envoy of Prince Loki's noble brother, General Thor," Tony said. "Due to the ongoing discussion about his choice of warden, he sent us to debate the point in his name."

Never let it be said that Tony couldn't do the posh people voice.

"And can Prince Loki not speak for himself?" Guozhi said coolly.

Loki's throat clicked as he forced himself to swallow. "What Tony speaks is true. My brother's wish is that Nanna becomes the warden because her son's welfare is her primary concern, not the acquisition of power."

"You're suggesting that the acquisition of power is my aim, Prince Loki?" Guozhi said. He was sharp.

"I can only repeat what Thor told me," Loki replied. "A suitable policy for any royal family wishing to keep their throne is to keep your power close to your chest. Thor insists on Nanna."

"Nanna knows nothing of what it takes to run the Earth Kingdom. The warden must perform the king's duties until he is old enough to take them over himself; Nanna is unfit for the role."

"With all respect, I disagree. The warden can have advisors, can she not?"

"Wouldn't it be simpler to choose a warden with more experience, such as myself?" Guozhi countered.

Loki hadn't spoken to someone with a silver tongue like his own for a long time, and needed to get his balance back. To give himself a moment, he retrieved the scrolls Thor had given him and wiggled them.

"In the event Nanna is deemed unsuitable, Thor has named one person he also considers suitable. Either of them will be sufficient for the role, or, of course, both," Loki said. "But that is his wish, and his word is law until the king assumes his role, is it not?"

The king himself, the subject of so much debate, was looking very bored by all this.

"And this would person would be..."

"Who do you think?" Loki said, affecting a crooked grin and gesturing to himself. "His beloved estranged brother, of course."

"Unacceptable," Guozhi growled.

Loki stepped forward and handed him the scrolls. "Thor's word."

Guozhi accepted the scrolls and unfurled them, looking them over thoughtfully.

"Guards," he said sharply. "Seize them! These papers are fake."

"They're _not,_ " Nat snarled, speaking for the first time. "Don't you dare do this."

"Guards! Remove them; they may be endangering the king," Guozhi insisted.

There was a _swoosh_ as Nat readied a swirl of water to defend herself. Tony kept his sword sheathed, however, knowing that getting aggressive would only make things worse.

"You can see the danger I pose to your position," Loki said, keeping himself icy calm. "And you want me gone. Fair enough. But I won't go easily."

"Is that a threat?" Guozhi said.

"My presence here clearly is," Loki answered sharply.

Tony sensed the presence of Dai Li agents behind them, and knew their arrest was imminent.

"Loki, let it go," Tony said. "And Nat, calm down. We'll fix this later."

Guozhi gave the shortest of nods, and Tony felt hands of rock close around his wrists and yank them together. There was a splat of water as Nat received the same treatment, and Tony assumed Loki hadn't fared any better.

Forseti looked on in childlike uncomprehension as the three of them were led away. Worst of all, Guozhi still had Loki's scrolls.

-O.O-

They were split up when they were celled, so Loki ended up in a cell with just a Dai Li agent and his shackles for company. Probably in remembrance of last time Loki had been shackled in the palace, they'd done a good job; in addition to his wrists, his ankles were also bound, and he was well-gagged. Odds were, Nat and Tony were in similar boats.

Mostly unable to move, Loki kept looking around the cell. It boasted metals walls, floor, door, and roof, a small chair for his guard, and an oil lamp that tried and failed to cut through the gloom. Opportunities for escape were limited at best.

That was Loki's goal, escape. He had a creeping feeling that staying in the cell and doing what Guozhi wanted was a good way to get himself re-disowned and re-exiled. So he needed to get out, and, preferably, talk over options with the other two.

Loki wasn't especially upset at the turn of events that had landed him in the cell. All his instincts had been warning him that he wouldn't be well-received and that the Dai Li would be running the show. It was still annoying, however, and he was still very determined to fix everything up.

Then he remembered Thor and the lamp.

He stared at the flame, tiny, bright, and flickering so temptingly.

He wondered for a moment if he could actually control his pyrokinesis. Usually it just blurted out of him when he was being overly emotional, like it did with most firebenders, but if he could do it on purpose...

First, breathing exercises. Most things in firebending could be achieved by breathing exercises. Keeping visual contact with the flame, Loki carefully inhaled and exhaled, willing it to move.

After a minute or two of this, it started to wax and wane with the air moving in his chest. By focusing intensely, he started to properly control this movement.

Loki couldn't have looked away if someone paid him by then.

The Dai Li agent finally noticed, and realising the object of Loki's fixation, went to snuff out the lamp.

Just then, Loki expanded the flame hugely across the inside and outside of the lamp, which promptly exploded, showering the agent in glass and burning oil. A few globs of it landed on Loki, too, but he could live with it.

His escape plan so far successful, he wriggled to bring his hands in front of himself, yanked off his gag, then burned off his ankle shackles.

The Dai Li agent, well-disciplined, registered Loki's escape through the pain and made gestures to stop him, so Loki got him in the side of the head with his metal shackles and knocked him cold. All good.

A quick rummage meant that Loki found the key to unlock his wrists and the door. This was a slight disappointment, because Loki wanted to blast the door down, but sometimes life just didn't work out the way you wanted it to.

He was right about to free himself when the door unlocked. Bringing his hands up to defend himself, he prepared a couple of fire daggers suitable for close quarters.

It was Tony. "Hey, babe!"

"How in the world...?" Loki said. "Well done, I suppose."

Tony leaned his head inside the cell. "You got a Dai Li agent? I only got this old city guard who was some friend of my dad's."

"I suppose they think I'm the dangerous one," Loki said. "How did you do it?"

"I convinced him to free my hands. I'm a non-bender, how much harm could I do, right?" Tony asked dryly.

"What did you do?" Loki said, starting to grin.

"Punched him in the face."

There was a moment of silence before they both started laughing.

"What happened to him?" Tony chuckled, looking at the unconscious Dai Li agent.

"The same thing that happened to the lamp," Loki replied. "I wonder if Nat's also broken out? We seem to be awfully good at this."

As they walked out of the cell, a vague _zing_ ing noise made itself known from a cell down the hall. Shortly afterwards, the lock popped out and the door swung open, revealing Nat.

"They underestimated me," Nat shrugged when she saw them there.

"Did they?" Loki mused. "This was too easy. Considering they had no real knowledge of our prowess, one would think they would have looked after us better."

"What, you think this was intentional?" Tony asked.

"Imprisoning us as things stood was illegal. Imprisoning us after we attacked several officials and broke out is very justified."

"Should I get back in the cell?" Nat said.

"No, I don't think that would help any. What's done is done. But we need to find our scrolls, and Nanna, and we need to do it without hurting anyone," Loki decided.

"Easy. I'm unarmed. Just my fists of fury," Tony said. "Nat, where'd the water come from?"

"The human body is largely water," Nat said simply.

"And that's where my inquiry ends," Tony said, trying not to think about it.

As expected, Loki took the lead. He pointed them towards a storage locker first to retrieve their belongings, then guided them in the general direction of upwards, out of the dungeon. Tony's first priority had been to undo his pack, freeing his annoyed pet who'd been jostled far more than was acceptable.

"Nanna's rooms," Loki murmured to himself as he steered them through twists and turns. "I suppose she might still live in Baldr's quarters, or perhaps in the queen's complex. I should have done more reading on these sorts of things."

Tony snorted. "Yeah, you should have done _more_ reading."

Nat chuckled unhelpfully.

Loki could only sigh at his choice of companionship. That said, he really did care deeply for the pair of them. They just had their moments.

The palace was decorated in varying levels of niceness depending on who used them. Obviously, the royal quarters contained far more yellow paint and elaborate hangings than anywhere else. That was how Tony knew they'd stepped from peasant-land to the big stuff.

On her way past, Nat swiped the water from a vase and swirled it around herself. No harm in preparedness, at least not in her eyes.

"You know," she said as they walked. "Guozhi isn't just going to relent. I know people like him; he won't yield."

"I agree," Loki said. "That's why we're going over his head. Nanna is the king's mother; I don't doubt she could convince my nephew to support us."

"Yeah, but can you get Nanna on your side?" Tony said.

"Maybe. I bloody hope so, or this has been a colossal waste of time," Loki replied. "At least I can rest knowing that I was right about the Dai Li. Being right is so satisfying."

Tony, of course, had plenty to snark about with that statement, and so a lighthearted bickering ensued for the rest of the walk.

The lack of guards around was actually fairly suspicious after a while.

"Aha," Loki finally said after another dozen turns. "Here we are. Probably."

"You inspire great confidence," Nat said dryly.

"I try." Then he raised a hand and knocked on the door.

"Enter," a somewhat soft voice said from within, barely audible.

Loki pushed open the door and entered. The others didn't follow.

It was a fairly simplistic but still refined room, just the way Loki remembered it when it had belonged to Baldr, and Nanna was lounging in a seat, reading in the afternoon sun.

Her eyes widened when she didn't recognise him.

"Who are you?" Nanna said, slightly sharp, as she sat up. Her body language was immediately hostile.

"Your brother-in-law, Loki," he said hopefully. "Thor sent me to speak to you."

"Loki?" she said in recognition, looking him over. He knew he looked older and tougher, but Loki was surprised at how other people reacted to his new appearance. "Where were you?"

"It's rather a long story, and quite an interesting one-"

"Your brothers died, and your mother, and my Baldr," Nanna hissed, getting to her feet and advancing towards him. He had about a foot of height advantage, but she was scary when she was angry. "Your whole family! Where were you?"

"Thrown out by my sorry excuse for a father, Nanna," Loki snapped back. "There was nothing I could have done."

"You could have come back!" Nanna's eyes were getting red around the edges. "You should have stopped this. You and Thor! Now Forseti is - he can't be king, he's just a boy. They'll kill him if he doesn't do what they want. You - why didn't you stop this?"

Loki paused the situation in his head for a moment to realise that Nanna wasn't angry, she was scared and grief-stricken, and he understood that a lot more.

Instead of lashing back at her, Loki just took a thorough breath to steady himself and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm so sorry," he offered, the only thing he could think of.

Unexpectedly, she dove forward and hugged his chest, burying her face into his coat.

Loki patted her back somewhat lamely, not sure of the proper response.

After half a minute of chest time, Nanna pulled back, her composure a little better. She wasn't any older than Nat, Loki knew, and was perhaps younger, with long brown hair and big green eyes not unlike his own.

"I'm sorry," she said. "It's not your fault, I know."

"I wish I'd been here," Loki admitted quietly. "I don't know how I could have helped, but I just struggle to believe they're gone."

Nanna just nodded, her eyes looking away from him for a moment. "What did Thor say?"

"He wants you to be Forseti's warden. We can't trust the Dai Li," Loki told her.

"Guozhi would have hated that," Nanna said softly. "You can't fight him, Loki. He's already won."

Loki tried for a smirk and succeeded. "Let him think that. It'll be all the better when we topple him, hm?"

Nanna nodded. "Is Thor here?"

"No, he's still on the front. He gave me several scrolls with official orders and his seal, but Guozhi took them off me when he imprisoned me. I haven't had a good day."

"I can get them verified if we can find them," Nanna said, her despondency beginning to lift. "He can ignore you because, well, you're-"

"A firebending bastard adoptee exile?"

"Yes, I suppose so. But he can't ignore me," Nanna said with some determination.

"We can only hope. My companions are outside; we should get moving," Loki told her.

"Give me a minute." With that, she ushered from the room, hopefully to dress herself more appropriately for an adventure and not call the guards.

"All is well," Loki told Tony and Nat. "She was a tad emotional when I arrived, but pulled herself together quickly."

"Good. We need to get moving," Nat said. "There's only so long until we'll have guards hunting us down."

Nanna appeared after half a minute dressed in far sturdier clothes than before and with shoes on. She was also wearing the jewellery befitting the king's mother.

"The scrolls are probably in his office," Nanna told Loki, before looking up and seeing the other two.

"This is Tony; he was the blacksmith here in Ba Sing Se before running away with me," Loki introduced. "And this is Nat, of the Northern Water Tribe."

Nat gave Nanna a respectful bow, while Tony grinned and said "It's a pleasure to meet you, your majesty."

That seemed to put Nanna at ease slightly.

This time, Nanna led the way and the others followed. Tony was beginning to feel like he was going to have tracked through the whole palace by the end of the day.

When they finally passed some guards, Nanna just gave them a haughty look and they ignored the team. Evidently the alarm hadn't been raised yet.

They were transitioning from the royal area of the palace to the functional one when Nanna pointed them towards the correct office.

"Don't mess it up too much," Nanna said, leaning on the wall next to the doorway. "I'll stay here and keep a lookout."

"Given that I won't be much use with scrolls, I'll stay here too," Nat added.

Nat's reading abilities were somewhat limited. She could do it, but it wasn't exactly her favoured activity.

Tony and Loki ducked inside the office. It was an open space, lavishly decorated as befitted the rank of the owner, and there were scrolls everywhere.

"Just our luck," Loki muttered.

"I hope they're even in here," Tony added, not exactly lightening the mood. "Come on, Cute Butt, we have to find them."

Loki couldn't help but smirk at the old nickname.

Finding the scrolls took a little while. Loki's feeling had been that Guozhi wouldn't throw them out until he'd at least had the chance to read them was correct, however, and they eventually turned up on top of a pile of other papers and scrolls in his in-tray.

Tony looked through them quickly to check they were all here and handed them to Loki. "What now?" he asked.

Loki was still working on the intricate details of that part. "Firstly, Nanna reads them. Then we don't draw our swords or prepare our flame, we work this out diplomatically with words and other similarly boring things."

"You're the boss," Tony shrugged. "Just remember, the swords are always an option."

"That they are," Loki agreed. "Nanna! We've found them!"

Nanna entered the room, followed by Nat. Loki dutifully handed Nanna the scrolls.

The king's mother immediately sat down in a soft green chair to read them.

After five minutes or so of waiting in anticipation, there was a certain air of boredom and frustration in the air.

"Loki-" Nat began.

"The wheels of the political system turn slowly, I am aware," Loki said, anticipating her.

"Isn't there something we could be doing?" Nat asked.

"Being quiet so I can read faster," Nanna said.

Another few minutes passed before Nanna looked up. "This all seems legitimate to me. It's clearly Thor's seal."

"So you'll support Loki?" Tony said.

Nanna waved the relevant scroll. "I'll support myself. Thor's nominated me."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Loki said. "Frankly, Nanna, I have less than no interest in reinvolving myself in royal affairs. I just want to sort things out and go home."

Tony couldn't agree more.

"What do we do?" Nat asked Nanna.

"You've brought me the scrolls. That's as much as you need to do," Nanna said shortly.

Nat's facial expression suggested that she was unimpressed.

"We did come a very long way. Is there nothing at all?" Loki said.

"Back me up, I suppose. Guozhi will be very angry when he sees this. If I'm alone he might have me arrested, or worse," Nanna slumped back in her chair. "This is such a mess."

"You need to get someone on your side," Tony told her firmly. "Look, if all the royal guards are on Guozhi's side, then when he wants you arrested, you'll just vanish. Who do you know around here who's on your side? Forseti, yeah, some maids, some other people maybe, but that's no one, really."

"How do I do that? Guozhi has them all in his pocket," Nanna said.

Nat smirked. "You've got Loki's sappy eyes, you know. Use them."

"You're the likely queen regent of the Earth Kingdom for the next decade," Tony shrugged. "I'm sure someone'll want in on that."

"And I don't have sappy eyes," Loki added.

Nat snorted with amusement.

"Says the woman with baby blues," Loki snapped back.

"Let's just get going," Nanna said, finally getting to her feet. "I want to do this now."

She opened the door and led the group out into the hallway, heading for the throne room. A pair of guards came running up to them all of a sudden as the walked.

"Madame Nanna! These criminals are wanted by the Dai Li for-"

"They're with me," Nanna said icily. She was tiny compared to the guard, but her royal swagger made it clear she was the dominant one.

"Do you want us to help-"

" _No,"_ Nanna insisted. The guards left them alone after that.

She was walking so fast by the time they got to the throne room that Nat and Tony were having to do a little jog with their short legs to keep up.

The doors were well-swung and as such Nanna experienced no particular difficulty in shoving them open.

It being Loki's second time entering the room that day unexpectedly, and the first one having not gone so well, he and the others were hanging back a bit.

Nanna strode up the carpet towards the throne, wielding the scroll with some ferocity.

"Mamma!" Forseti said, sitting up from his bored slouch on the throne.

"Nanna," Guozhi said suddenly from his position at Forseti's shoulder.

Nanna was in no mood for formalities. "Guozhi. How dare you imprison my brother-in-law without even informing me he was here?"

Having the title of brother-in-law bequeathed upon himself was a surprise, and Loki knew it was more for show than anything - he doubted Nanna held any particular affection for him besides the fact he was a friendly face - but he was willing to go along with it.

"Your 'brother-in-law' is a known Fire Nation supporter-" Guozhi began in his serpentine fashion, but Nanna cut him off.

"We both know Odin made that bullshit up to keep the peace," Nanna said sharply. "Loki came back here with official letters bearing Thor's seal. Why did you imprison him?"

Guozhi didn't have an answer that she wouldn't tear to shreds.

"Thor wished for me to take over as the warden of my son, and I'm going to do that," Nanna told Guozhi.

The main response Guozhi gave was a glare at Loki, who would have struggled to care less. Then the warden said "And if I will not allow it?"

"Then my brother-in-law and his companions will remove you."

This was the first any of Loki and his 'companions' had heard about that, but they were willing to go along with it. Guozhi himself didn't really know how good any of them were, but in his eyes it was probably a viable threat.

After a tense moment of consideration, Guozhi said "Fine. Under one condition." He held them in suspense for a moment longer, then said "Loki and his two thugs are gone from this city by tomorrow evening."

"I'm a blacksmith!" Tony said indignantly. Nat just pursed her lips.

"We're happy to agree," Nanna said.

"Are we?" Loki said.

"Yes, you are," Nanna insisted.

Guozhi smiled in satisfaction. "Very well," he purred. "Come, Nanna, we have much to discuss."

Guozhi swept Nanna from the room through one of the hidden doors, Forseti trailing along full of eagerness to spend time with his mother.

An attendant appeared from nowhere and smiled sweetly, her makeup perfect and tidy. "My name is Jen Li. I'll show you to your apartment in the city."

-O.O-

"Let's face it; we've been played," Tony said as soon as their guide left them alone. Jen Li had been helpful to the point of creepiness, and Loki was certain she was with the Dai Li, because he didn't remember attendants like her from his days there.

"I hope Nanna is the lesser of two evils," Nat commented mildly.

"It's what Thor wanted," Loki said, trying to convince himself. "He sent me - us - here to deliver the message and campaign in Nanna's favour. We've done so. But it feels wrong."

"Nanna jumped on the plan a little quickly. You sure she won't go all mad dictator on us?" Tony asked. "'Cause that was bugging me the whole time. Like Nat said; lesser of two evils."

"I don't know her that well and therefore have no idea, but frankly, it doesn't matter. My main priority is that she's disinclined to hurt Forseti; she doesn't need to know how to rule a country. That's why you have advisors. And let's face it, the political and diplomatic can't actually get a great deal worse than it is," Loki said, sitting down heavily and resisting the urge to fiddle with his topknot.

"The Water Tribes could go to war against you," Nat said helpfully.

"Yes, those pesky Water Tribes, known for their warlike behaviour and their efficient attacks on cities far inland," Loki commented blandly.

"We trick you into thinking that. Then, when you least expect it..." Nat flicked a stream of water from the vase into Loki's face.

Tony thought this was pretty funny, mostly because of the way Loki just sat there and took it, then wiped the water off his face in resignation.

"If you're not happy, then what are you going to do about it? We have a day before we get chucked out; now's your time, if anytime is," Tony said, settling next to him.

"Well, what do you think?" Loki asked. If he trusted anyone's judgement, it was Tony's.

"I think that we've done exactly what Thor asked and if the future of the Earth Kingdom didn't depend on it I'd bugger off now," Tony said. "But it does, so we have to make sure that what we do here doesn't go to waste. Granted, I have no idea how to do that."

"I don't particularly know much about how things work around here, but I'm not sure there's much we _can_ do," Nat said. "The longer we stay here, the less anyone will listen."

"Bastard of a situation. You'd think I'd be better with bastards than this, really, after spending so much time with you, Lokes." Tony grinned like he'd said something purely hilarious.

Loki tried not to break into a smile so he could maintain the serious atmosphere he failed.

"How's this," Loki said after half a minute. "Tomorrow I send Thor a detailed letter telling him what has occurred, including my thoughts on what is really happening here and what I want him to do about it. It's his business after that. We head back to our island and our mundane jobs and our dragons and Nat does whatever she wants to do, bearing in mind that she's more than welcome to come back with us."

"Sounds good to me," Tony shrugged. No better ideas had occurred to him.

While everything that had happened had left a bitter taste in their mouths, they were truly limited in what they could do. Nanna and Guozhi both wanted them gone, and when the power struggle finished, one of those two would be running the show in Forseti's name.

The only person with the power to overrule anything was Thor, and he didn't look like he was coming back anytime soon.

-O.O-

Up at dawn the next morning, Loki settled down with the appropriate writing utensils and got to work. Several times he stopped to think or ask Tony or Nat a question, or just to rest his poor hand. But eventually he had a long and detailed letter to his brother about the current dramas.

They ate breakfast and generally tidied themselves as the ink dried. Then Loki rolled the letter up and headed out on an expedition to find a courier, with the other two trailing behind.

"Considering we're leaving," Tony said to Loki after a few fruitless minutes of walking. "I vote that you find the courier and I take Nat on a she'll-never-see-this-city-again-probably tour."

Loki couldn't particularly fault that logic and so they split up, vowing to meet up again at the Metal Man in an hour. "Don't talk about me too much. My ears get itchy," Loki deadpanned as they walked off.

Tony grinned and Nat actually stuck her tongue out like she was about ten years younger.

 _She's relaxed a lot recently. I wonder if this was how she acted around Clint,_ Loki thought.

Once he was alone, Loki found himself looking at the city differently. Being in the Upper Ring, everything was fairly aristocratic, but dabs of life shone through, like clothes hanging or children playing. Everyone looked at least content, if not happy.

The knowledge that a war was raging elsewhere in the country made the relative peace and prosperity of Ba Sing Se seem unreal in a way.

It was almost the opposite of Thor's camp; there in the camp, one wasn't physically safe and was at the mercy of their own poor guards, but the people themselves were wholly trustworthy and likeable. In Ba Sing Se, one was safe as houses, but trusting anyone seemed to be a terrible idea.

Loki feared for Nanna. She'd immediately used him on seeing him to bolster her own position, though considering her anxiety and lack of certainty, he didn't hold it again her. He just wondered how long it would take for Guozhi to get the upper hand again, and whether Thor would do as he recommended in time.

Probably not. But the fire in Loki's blood was holding him back, seeing as no one trusted or liked him in this city. Seeing the raw intolerance that people sported both in Thor's camp and in Ba Sing Se just reminded him how lucky he was to have Tony. And Nat, now.

On the very rare occasions Loki had wanted to post something when he lived in the palace, he just handed it to a servant and told them to have it done somehow. Now he was learning that when you weren't hanging out with the royals, getting anything sent anywhere was a pain.

After following some very inaccurate directions from someone dragging a cabbage cart, Loki ended up in a courier's office. Ostrich-horses were tethered outside, a good sign.

Loki paid double for quick and safe passage of his letter to Thor. He hoped it got there.

It having taken him a long time to get that simple task achieved, Loki was late for his meeting with Tony and Nat, and he hurried with his head down through the large crowd that had amassed in a public forum. His attention was only grabbed by the immensely familiar _whooosh_ of fire and the shouts of the crowds.

Using his unusual height to his advantage, Loki peered over everyone to see a stage erected against one side of the forum, with an enormous Earth Kingdom man dominating the stage in army uniform.

"Where's he gone?" the man laughed, looking around the stage with theatrical exaggeration.

From behind the curtain, a man's face poked out, with hair in a topknot and face done up in overdone stage makeup that accentuated his cheekbones and pale skin. He had typical Fire Nation facial hair painted on, too; the overall effect was a little grotesque.

Loki wanted to shrink down and pretend he looked nothing at all like that.

The 'firebender' shot a spray of sparks at the 'soldier' - some kind of pyrotechnic effect - and grinned evilly.

"There he is!" several children shouted. "He's behind you!"

"Haha!" the earthbender said, bending a rock and throwing the 'firebender' backwards. It was a gentle blow, meant only for the drama.

"Get him! Crush him!" a kid shrieked in Loki's ear from a vantage point on a parent's shoulders.

 _It's just a stage show,_ Loki told himself, but either way, his hands were itching, like fire might burst from them suddenly.

His mood now thoroughly ruined, Loki headed for the Metal Man with an unconscious pout on his lips.

When he got there, he found Tony leaning against the bar with a massive mug of beer while Jarvis sorted through the available snacks, just like old times. Nat was beside him, sipping a drink of her own.

They were laughing about something, and Loki immediately felt better.

"Loki!" Tony called when he saw him.

"Shush; we're trying to be stealthy," Loki said, but he couldn't help smiling back.

"Trust me, everyone knows we're here," Tony said. "I used to live around here, remember. Everyone knows me."

"Prince Loki," Jin said, sliding him a mug brimming with his special brew.

"Thank you." Loki sat down next to Tony. "Did you two end up anywhere interesting?"

"We've seen most of the Upper Ring now," Nat told him. "I haven't managed to find an underground brawling ring yet, but I'm hopeful."

"Those are more in the provinces," Tony said. "It's hard to hide that kind of thing."

"Nat, we could bet on you," Loki smirked. "You've got the attitude; you just need a stage name."

"The Water Widow," Tony suggested.

"Black Ice," Loki added.

"Black Widow," Nat said definitively.

"A spider?" Tony said. "The world of water-based names is opening in front of you, and you want to be a spider."

"I've never really been one for Water Tribe ideologies," Nat shrugged.

Knowing that the Water Tribes believed in peace, community, and customs, Loki understood. "I barely subscribe to either Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation ideas. It's all so much bullshit."

"I do what I want," Tony said, then put a hand on their shoulders. "Right. We have to be on our way out of the city in a few hours. Where are we going?"

The default answer there was 'home' and so Loki didn't bother to say it, waiting to see if either of the other two had different ideas.

"Is there a chance we could look for Clint?" Nat said, her voice even and calm, no doubt covering upset.

Loki suffered a touch of shame when he realised he hadn't even thought of that. He'd just assumed Clint was gone. "Of course. We'll definitely go."

Tony nodded in agreement. "Where do we start, though?" He rummaged through his pack, mostly empty without Jarvis in it, and retrieved his faithful map.

"The colonies," Loki said. "It's somewhere to start."

Nat smiled at the pair of them. "Thank you."

"Our pleasure," Tony said. He liked to see Nat happy.

Knowing that it would probably be the last time he tasted it, Tony drained his beer and then got another round. Jin's special brew was something to be remembered, in his opinon.

Once they'd finished their drinks, they took the long way to the monorail station that would take them out of town, getting a last look. Loki didn't even want to see the palace. He'd had enough, even if he officially was a prince again.

Then it was a ferry ride across the lake, a short trip through customs, and they were in the same position as their last escape from Ba Sing Se, plus Nat.

"This way, I think," Loki said, gesturing to the beaten path that would take them west around the curve of the lake.

"Lead the way," Tony said, plopping Jarvis on the ground to make him walk.

Nat re-fastened her shoe, and then gave a nod of assent.

Then they set off down the road, heading for the unknown.

_On the walls of the day in the shade of the sun_   
_We wrote down another vision of us_   
_We were the challengers of the unknown_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's the end of it! This was going to be the total end of the whole series, but the traditional flashforward to a happy future schtick just didn't fit into this chapter. I'm considering doing one of those, but the problem is, the further forward into the future you get the more it's going to cross over with actual Avatar continuity. Not so much actual characters, but situations and events, like, say, the Siege of Ba Sing Se.  
> My question to you is; do you want this series to actually take place in the Avatar universe or a slightly different one?
> 
> For now, this is the end, so thanks for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading!


End file.
